Pressure to perform makes youth prone to depression

Bengaluru: "Whenever it is appraisal time I feel so anxious. My whole focus is my appraisal hence I sometimes just don't know how to handle situations of stress,” says Girisha who works in an accountancy firm in the city. Sadly, her story is shared many other youngsters who make it to the city with big dreams.

ePsyclinic.com which is an online platform that provides mental health care through therapies and counseling services to clients conducts some 800 sessions a month from Bangalore, and of those counselling sessions, upto 60% come from work pressure and job insecurities, 20% come from Smoking and Drug addiction (early stage) and remaining are adolescent with issues of love and career. “Average person not trained in Psychology cannot interpret these symptoms easily.

Also, another in-depth analysis done by a leading professional counselling company for corporates revealed that suicidal tendencies are highest amongst individuals between the age group of 20 and 34. In this age group suicidal tendencies are predominantly attributed to issues related to marriage and relationships followed by individual factors and work-related complications. “Depression levels and suicidal tendencies are very prevalent in the younger generation as they face new challenges, with reduced family support, often in a new geography and are exposed to a very different work environment. In many cases the current generation is brought up in very protective environment. They lack exposure to the harsh realities of life; they lack independent thinking and decision-making skills and have little or no life skill training. They may have also hitherto had restricted opportunity for relationships, and so are unprepared for the type of situations they are exposed to in the world of work. Hence, there are more problems in terms of compatibility, adaptability and facing reality,” explains Karuna Bhaskar, Director of 1to1help.net. 

V. Vandana, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Vikram hospital stresses the need for to have awareness program and counselling sessions regularly. “Some companies have an in-house Counsellors but a clinical psychologist is recommended for employees with depressions and other such issues. In addition,  they could hold some group sessions once in two or three months and create some awareness camps in which they can highlight what warning signs and whom to reach out to,” says Vandana.