In defence of depression

Remember the words “I quit” scrawled on the wall when Joy Lobo hung himself in the movie 3 Idiots? Those words or similar thoughts have passed through the minds of numerous students and is increasingly becoming a common refrain.

Earlier this year Neha Reddy, a 22 year old Bengaluru based engineering student committed suicide by jumping from her boyfriend’s fourth floor apartment. So what is pushing today’s student population over the edge?

“What’s bothering the student population is stress due to academics, relationships with parents, peer groups and romantic relationship,” explains Dr. M Manjula from the NIMHANS department of clinical psychology.

According to a WHO report India has one of the world’s highest rate of suicide among people aged between 15 and 27. Dealing with student life is difficult by any parameters, add to that the additional stressors of relationships and peer pressure and it amounts to an overwhelming sense of stress , without the right support system.

Shreya, a student of Mount Carmel College who is battling depression and self injury opens up about her struggle, “It was like a storm within me that was building. The pressure from back home to perform better in class, even the anxiety of forming friends in a new college plus the loneliness of coming to study in a new city all by myself. That’s when I started cutting myself.” Shreya who is now in therapy says her roommate coaxed her to seek help. It is often the lack of opening up about the issues plaguing these students which leads to fatal consequences.

“When we are discussing the state of the mind, there is no clear indication of an injury. You need to recognise the tell tale signs before the matter is aggravated,” elaborates clinical psychologist Geetha Appachu. Ruchika, another college student says she stopped going to class when she started falling back in her assignments and her grades dipped, “I locked myself up in my room and thought of killing myself. I was in a dark downward spiral.” Some experts say a key problem is that families brush mental health issues under the carpet rather than facing them head on.” Just like any physical illness, mental health issues need to be sought help for. Ignoring the issue only makes it worse" adds Dr. Appachu.

The world of students is plagued by thoughts of underperformance and lacking prospects, body image issues, broken relationships and sexual politics, and even addictions. While most of these problems may seem trivial to grown-ups, the students continue to battle their own dragons.