Colleges in the city usually have sessions to help freshers adapt to the new environment. However, what is increasingly spoken about to these students in the recent years is related to mental health, especially depression.
Ask colleges the reason, and here is what the student council head of a leading technical institute had to say: “Problems stem from difficulty to adjust in a new environment for first years; many stay in hostels for the first time and tend to get homesick.”
To ensure that students find it easy to adjust to the college environment, presentations/counselling by doctors are organised for the first years. They explain the problems that newcomers may face and give general counselling. They also invite students to meet the counsellors or doctors individually if they want to talk about their problems. The NSS conducts a few guest lectures on mental health and depression in a year, creating awareness about the same.
According to S. Ananth, consulting psychiatrist at Ramakrishna Hospital, with increased competition among students and at educational institutions, stress levels are found to be high among students, especially those in the adolescent age group and young adults (16 to 29 years). Hence, depression, is being increasingly spoken about/addressed in today’s day and time.
Every year, there are cases of students committing suicide due to exam stress and failure, especially around the time when board examination results come out. Not getting into the colleges or courses they want to, upsets students and may lead to depression. “There are students applying for medical seats like M.B.B.S who do not get through, and have to settle for a dental seat or the like, which does not hold the same value. The added pressure from the families can make students more susceptible to stress and depression”, says Dr. Ananth.
Another reason, according to him, is dysfunctional families and relationship problems that can lead to depression among college students.
Professor Vedagiri Ganeshan, director, Global Institute of Behavior Technology, Coimbatore, says that for some students depression starts from childhood, the prominent reasons being sibling rivalry, strict parenting, and peer pressure. In the case of college students, “The sudden exposure might leave them paralysed and the fear of failure will haunt them.” Moreover, a strict environment in colleges with non co-operative faculty will only make matters worse.
Training the faculty to identify depression and provide awareness is very important.
“Depression should be investigated just like a police investigation; the reason might not be the obvious”, he adds. The feeling of worthlessness, loss of interest, the feeling that they can’t meet their expectations, decreased academic performance, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, repeated crying spells, inability to experience pleasure and aloofness are common signs of depression amongst youngsters, he adds.
The professor expresses his concern that in spite of the All India Council for Technical Education stating that there should be a full-time counsellor appointed in all engineering colleges, most of them only appoint a half-time counsellor.
However, the experts feel that what is important is students should be willing to speak up about issues that worry them. “Despite the magnitude of the problem, no students voluntarily approach me, mainly because of the stigma associated with mental health. Even parents don’t come forward unless they are requested by the head of the department,” says Dr. Ananth.
