50 students took their lives in 60 days…! -lobby for quality mental health care

50 students took their lives in 60 days…!

“In the last two months alone, more than 50 students have reportedly committed suicide across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, India. Child rights activists who have been tracking these cases link many of them to students cracking up under pressure to perform. Psychologist Veerabhadra Kandla says even parents push children to crack exams and become success stories in education, at the cost of everything else. “It is easy to blame the schools and colleges and teachers, but what about the parents themselves?,” she says.”

This is an amalgamation of many issues- starting off with high expectations and pressure from parents, who prioritize a seat over the mental health of their children. They can always say- we want them to have a secure and happy future, but unfortunately that explanation falls through.  It is also cause of poor bonding between the parents and the child -when you aren’t aware of your child’s unique abilities, where there isn’t a safe and open space for the child to express what their concerns are without fear.

Then the school and education system which is almost only performance driven these days- whereas education is supposed to encourage the wholistic development of the individual. we sadly have less ‘ mentally healthy, purpose driven resilient individuals’ and more “efficient aimless confused machines”

Then the poor state of mental health care in our country. If we had the right systems in place, despite all the above we can still screen out mental health issues at the root and offer the right aid to these children. Its really important for the general public to understand that mental heath issues are rampant, and if you feel “it can never happen to me , am strong.”, you are mistaken. And when you do and when you try and search for a good mental health professional, what do you get? All these businesses which promise you an expert, and every one gets carried away by the efficient marketing strategies of these sites/ business. Of course they say they are experts. they must me be right. WRONG. When you check their qualifications, most of them scarcely did full times courses in offering mental health services and whats’ even more pathetic is that they wouldn’t even have the basic skills cause believe it or not, they haven’t trained with actual clients/patients to begin with. They are PRACTICING IT ON YOU! for the first time. would you like for a brain surgeon, to operate on your brains, if they haven’t got adequate training, nor is being supervised when he happens to open up your brain? Then your question maybe, how are they allowed to practice? its the harsh truth but, there is a rise of mental health issues, and we do not have sufficient resources or even a regulatory body that efficiently checks the quality of practitioners. of course there are namesake ones, but their process of assessment is in favor of such business. the high demand, and lack of knowledge amongst the general public moves in favor for these systems. The government and many businesses lobby for licensing mental health professionals with minimal, and poor training to cater to this burgeoning need and alas!, the vicious cycle continues.

The mental health needs are not met adequately and this is an inkling of what it leads to…

50 Suicides In 60 Days: Dark Reality Of Andhra, Telangana Coaching Centres

This isnt news anymore we are talking about. These are valuable lives. And suicides arent the only issues that all this lead to. There are thousands of other mental health issues equally significant and can affect the quality of life of the student and the family.

Lets lobby for quality mental health care to be a priority. Cause good mental health systems can cater to all the issues that led to this- poor parenting practices,  parental pressure, high expectations, wholistic development of the child, screening out mental health issues, offering the right intervention.

It can save a life.