Beat depression, live life
PRAGYANKITHA KISARI GOUD
BBA STUDENT
ANISH COLLEGE
Every now and then we hear students committing suicide. It is time mental health education is made a part of curriculum
Not just students even successful people go through depression. Life is to be lived. All institutions teach one to be successful, there is a need to even teach students how to cope with failure.
In 2012, India had the highest rate of suicide between the age group of 15 – 19. What causes this depression? The answers point to many directions. Children find difficulty in coping with failure in academics leading to extreme frustration and helplessness. Kota in Rajasthan is now called the ‘Suicide capital’. Hundreds of students from across the country head to Kota to enroll in coaching institutes to crack various competitive exams. Many fail and get into depression, some come out of it and many take the dreaded decision.
Many students come from poor families and not fulfilling these unrealistic goals makes them anxious about letting their families down which makes them take this extreme step. Depression is the outcome of many other problems. Apart from academic stress, youngsters have body image issues resulting in eating disorders like Anorexia, Bulimia. Adding to the list, identity crisis is also one of the major reasons for depression. Peer pressure and bullying too have such effects. Many youngsters then take up to substance abuse (drugs, alcohol) self-harm as coping mechanisms.
There is not much awareness regarding this life-threatening disease. This needs to be changed. There is nothing wrong in seeking professional help in these matters. Depression is not something to be ashamed of.
One way to tackle this issue would be to introduce Mental Health awareness in school curriculum. Being aware of this will help children to reach out and seek help. Support from peers and family, especially parents is very much needed in times of emotional crisis. There are a lot of suicide helplines in times of such a crisis. There is no doubt that we need more awareness about mental health. Supporting each-other emotionally, we can defeat depression together!
