Mental Health Crisis: 65% Surge in Student Counseling Reveals Disturbing Reality, Report Shows

• ByStartupStory     |    January 10, 2024

In a concerning revelation, mental health platform PeakMind reports a staggering 65% increase in students seeking counseling within the age group of 14-20 during the last year. The alarming rise sheds light on the deep-seated psychological issues faced by students, leading to a surge in suicides, with 35,950 students taking their lives between 2019-2021 in India.

According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), the year 2020 witnessed a student suicide every 42 minutes, surpassing the number of suicides among farmers. The epidemic is pervasive, affecting premier institutions and students preparing for competitive exams or board exams.

PeakMind’s observation, based on data collected from January to December 2023, highlights the most common concerns expressed by students. These include difficulties in concentration, academic distress due to performance pressure and test anxiety, fear of failure, lack of motivation, disturbed sleep, recurring negative thoughts, self-doubt, low energy, relationship issues, and overall anxiety about the future. Digital and social media addiction, coupled with a lack of effective guidance, emerges as a major hindrance to concentration.

Neeraj Kumar, Founder & CEO of PeakMind, expressed concern over the alarming suicide rates, emphasizing the societal failure to provide emotionally supportive and intellectually enriching environments. He stated, “It is comforting to see that young adults are recognizing the need to seek experts’ help. But there is no better cure than prevention.” Kumar called for efforts to identify vulnerable youth using technology and provide customized care and support to enhance their psychological well-being.

“The alarming numbers of suicides indicate that we, as a society, are not able to provide an emotionally supportive and intellectually enriching environment for individuals to thrive in,” said Neeraj Kumar.

PeakMind’s Observation underscores a positive trend, indicating that more students are realizing the importance of counseling for their psychological well-being. The platform has assisted over one lakh students and has collaborations with leading educational institutes.

Acknowledging the severity of the situation, the Union Ministry of Education (MoE) has developed the draft UMMEED (Understand, Motivate, Manage, Empathize, Empower, Develop) guidelines. These guidelines prioritize the establishment of School Wellness Teams (SWT) to identify vulnerable students and provide essential support.

The guidelines also advocate for protective factors such as fostering positive self-esteem, encouraging peer support, and enhancing life skills and resilience to help students cope with conflicts, failures, and rejection.

In response to this crisis, both the private and government sectors are urged to actively work towards creating a safe and conducive environment for healthy psychological development and support. The hope is that these measures will yield promising results over time, addressing the pressing need for mental health initiatives in educational settings.

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