Hyderabad: Students resort to therapy for help

Hyderabad: A large number of students in the city, who have been taken aback by the recently-declared intermediate examination results, have been seeking help from psychiatrists and psychological counsellors to cope with the resultant trauma.

Many students have been showing suicidal tendencies and symptoms of depression and anxiety after the declaration of results.

The vice-president of Hyderabad Physiatrists Society Dr Preeti Swaroop explained, “Many students feel pressurised to prove to their parents that they can achieve outstanding results. Even those students who have scored over 90 per cent marks have been approaching clinics because they were expecting to do better. The transition from school to junior college marks a major change in the lives of students. While they continue to feel pressurised to perform, they also want to bask in the novelty of college life. As a result, an increasing number of students have been found manipulating their parents, cheating during examinations, and even indulging in abuse. And when their results finally arrive, they realise that they haven’t performed they were expecting to.” The students who were accompanied by their parents during therapy reported that although they did feel pressurised to perform, they were very confident that they would crack the final examination with flying colours.

Psychologist Dr A. Reddy explained, “Students are often forced into confinement by their parents and most of them are unable to cope with it. They need an outlet for their emotions and these days, cellphones have become that gateway. Hence, many students merely pretend to study while they’re actually spending time on the phone.”

Every year, at the beginning of Class X and XII, counselling sessions are conducted.

A senior psychiatrist explained, “Schools call psychiatrists for counselling only out of pressure from the boards. However, they instruct their students to not ask or tell us anything that could damage the reputation of the school. As a result, many students approach us privately for help.”