The spike in mental health cases among students has been a constant reminder to society about the challenges that need to be addressed immediately.
According to WHO, mental health conditions, such as childhood epilepsy, developmental disabilities, depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders, are major causes of illness and disability among young people. Worldwide, 8% of children and 15% of adolescents experience a mental disorder, but the majority of them do not seek help or receive care. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15-29 year-olds.
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The Government of India has developed various initiatives to help young people deal with mental issues. These include online platforms, government help desks and organisations, and in-house counselling departments of various Institutes or Universities.
MANODARPAN: The initiative launched by the Ministry of Education during the COVID outbreak covers various activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional well-being. A national toll-free helpline number- 844 844 0632 for a country-wide outreach to students from schools, colleges and universities to provide them with tele-counselling to address their mental health and psychosocial issues during and after the COVID-19 situation has been set up.
NCERT Counselling Services for School Children: Launched in April 2020, this initiative helps school students get free help. About 270 counsellors across different regions of the country are associated with this initiative. Live interactive sessions on ‘SAHYOG: Guidance for Mental Wellbeing of Children’ are telecast on noon eVidya DTH-TV channels for classes 1 to 12. To handle stress and anxiety, recorded videos on Yoga are telecast through 12 DTH TV channels. They were started in September 2020 for Classes 1 to 12, and digital resources are made available on digital platforms, i.e., DIKSHA.
CBSE Counselling: The Central Board has its own telecounselling facilities, which provide pre- and post-exam counselling to students through a centralized toll-free helpline. This platform not only provides psychological counselling but also gives students career guidance.
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Tele MANAS: This platform is not restricted to students only but is for all. The helpline number is 14416 or 1-800-891-4416. Tele MANAS provides comprehensive mental health services through a digital platform, including telephone-based counselling services, psychotherapy, psychiatric consultations, and referral services, including emergency services, and the recent inclusion of video consultations with an e-prescription facility.
Besides these initiatives, NCERT, under the aegis of the School Health Programme under Ayushman Bharat, has developed a comprehensive package titled “Training and Resource Material: Health and Wellness of School-going Children. A specific module has been included on “Emotional Well-being and Mental Health”, which has activities related to students’ and teachers’ mental health and well-being. The link is given here to check.
IIT Bombay, IIT Goa, Delhi University and other reputed government organisations have counselling departments where students enrolled in such institutes can seek help.
