Open House: What steps can be taken to check the rising cases of suicides among youths?

Education institution should set up helplines

To begin with, it should be made clear that stress is a physical reaction to an individual’s emotional feelings. It must be understood that stressful condition does not occur in negative situations only, it occurs on positive occasions too such as upcoming wedding or waiting for result of exam. But during acute state stress, adrend gland releases erpinephrine, the hormone responsible for flight or fight mode. Here one is to act responsibly and take the following steps: take proper rest/sleep, take care of your health and diet, always be active, find good and encouraging connection in family and friend circle, stay organised, manage your time effectively and above all, avoid stimulators. One should always remember that stress can’t be avoided completely but it can be controlled to a great extent. To control it we have to have a proper time schedule for exercise or yoga, play indoor and outdoor games, develope hobbies like music, painting or reading. To avoid acute stress one should be careful about the symptoms in the early stage: Physical–– Fatigue, headache, stomachache, muscle tensions, sweating increased heartbeat, fluctuating blood pressure etc. Behaviour–– low apetite and alcohol drinking etc. Cognitive–– loss of memory or lack concentration etc. In many instance reasons for stress other than studies are homesickness, finance, living with strangers, loss of loved one etc. So if the reason is known than it is easy to find out the solution. The best way to control the situation lies with educational institutions they should start helplines in this regard on the pattern of National Suicide Prevention helpline, which is available 24/7.

SH Naresh Johar

Include mental health in school curriculum

Anxiety, depression and behavioural issues are common among youth these days. Many factors are responsible for mental health issues such as exposure to adverse conditions like poverty, abuse and violence. Lack of good parenting can be one of the causes for bad mental health. Our response to a particular adverse situation depends on our upbringing and the support we get from our near and dears. It is well said that: “To be the best, you must be able to handle the worst.” As a parent, one must not set targets for their children. A child must set his target by his own. A friendly atmosphere at home can help a child to be more open with parents that will make him discuss his problems comfortably. Educational institutions can commence a new subject regarding mental health in their curriculum. Each school can add such a subject and this subject should be taught by psychiatrists or counselors. Even professional colleges must add this subject to their curriculum too. These days, competition is hard. The increased burden of studies and peer pressure has contributed to the increased stress among youth. Education these days has become a business. Business of coaching institutes and dummy schools and side effects of digital media are contributing factors of increased burden on students. Suicide is the leading cause of death in youths. These mental health issues should be discussed with physicians at an early stage and there should be no hesitation in getting consultation from a psychiatrist.

Renu Verma

Do not take warning signs lightly

The recent suicide incident at LPU has highlighted the suicide trend among youth. Of late, it has been noticed that the suicide is a leading cause of death among young students. However, suicide is certainly preventable if it is detected at an early stage. Help can be sought from the National Suicide prevention Lifeline or the Crises Test Line contacts. Youth who are contemplating suicide frequently show signs of distress. Teachers, friends and parents can pick up signs of distress. These warning signs should never be taken lightly. When all seniors and students in the educational institutes get committed to prevent suicide, suicidal youths can be helped before they engage in such behaviour. Young students who feel suicidal are not likely to seek help directly, but teachers, parents and school personnel and their classmates/peers can recognise the warning signs and take immediate action to keep the youth safe. It is crucial for parents and all educational institutes and schools staff members to be familiar with and watchful for risk factors and warning signs of suicidal behaviour. Even the chats on some media platforms with friends and family members can give indication to quite some extent about the suicidal behaviour, which is like a warning in advance. Right actions at the right time can prevent many deaths by suicides.

EL Singh

Parents must spend quality time with kids

In this digital era, educational technology plays a vital role in the overall behaviour of youngsters. Children feel that electronic gadgets provide them with all basic amenities they need to shape and mould their future in desired form. Parents also take pride in providing their children with latest gadgets such as smart phones, tablets and laptops etc. They forget that children are a symbol of love from God to them and it is their duty to make their upbringing to make them a good sensible human being. With both parents earning to make both ends meet, gadgets have become a great barrier between children and their parents. Parents too fail to check into the daily happenings of their young ones and also fail to provide them with friendly atmosphere where children might feel free, to tell their parents what they feel about life. On the other hand, parents too fail to make children realise what they actually mean to them. The increase in prevalence rate of suicides is a high alarm. Providing children with love and nurturing them with care and concern would make them realise that life is a mixture of failure and success, it would also act as a tonic to make them emotionally healthy. We need to motivate the youngsters to have a positive approach towards life. Let them feel they are wanted, they are loved, they are cared and they mean a lot to their families. These positive thoughts can only be induced by parents and educators, and when these positive thoughts are everywhere suicides would not take place.

Anita SFC

Life is a challenge, face it bravely

The youth is falling prey to depression and committing suicide. Parents and educationalists can help in decreasing depression. They can prevent the youth from committing suicide. As parents, we should treat our children as friends. We should provide an open atmosphere to share their difficulties without any hesitation. If we find any signs of negativity in our children, they should try to know the reason about negativity or depression. Do not force your child to take specific course or stream, if he/she is not interested in that field. If your child does not succeed in any field or stream, don’t scold him repeatedly as it may lead to depression in them. Educational institutions can play a vital role to decrease depression among youths. The entire staff of school/college should create such an atmosphere where children can share their worries and difficulties. If any child shares his/her problems or worries with an educationalist, it is the responsibilities of the educationalist to keep it to himself not to make the child feel uncomfortable by disclosing his mental health state to others. The educationalists should not pressurise teenagers to get marks but teach them in a psychological way the importance of hard work in life. They should appreciate teenagers for small things. Educationalists or teachers can tell the real stories of the men who suffered a lot in their lives but they did not lose heart and finally succeeded in their lives. Parents and educationalists can prevent the youth to commit suicide by guiding them in psychologically way.

Sucha Sagar

Provide counseling, indulge in sports

Although the LPU student’s suicide was, reportedly, rooted in his inability to pay his semester fee, the underlying issue of stress, depression and other mental health problems among the young cannot be brushed aside. Suicide is no solution to such problems. In fact, suicide as an aspect of health care is totally absent from our educational institutions and the government is least bothered about it, though suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among adolescents. In our system, particularly after the overall havoc unleashed by the online education following the outbreak of Covid-19, students from the lower income families are the worst sufferers in that they have to do without a smart phone or a computer at home. They hardly can share their feelings with any one at home. Schools lack services like guidance and counselling. The pressure of studies goes on increasing incrementally. Examinations are now comparatively easier and total failures rare, but young minds are very sensitive. They need expressive channels like games and sports. Parents have to understand their children and shower as much love and attention on them as they can. Occasional family gatherings and outings have their own potential. I think psychological support at some level must be made available to students.

Prof Mohan Singh

Cultivate positive thinking

In order to check the alarming trend of suicides among youngsters, the parents and educational institutes should take foremost step of changing mindset of youngsters by imbibing positive thinking in them. Second step they should take is to encourage them in participating in extra co-curricular activities and sports activities. Third step is that the parents should spend maximum time with their youngsters. Fourth step, they should encourage their youngsters to watch comedy serials on TV and also encourage them to watch movies in cinemas during spare time. Fifth step is that they should encourage them to believe in God. The educational institutes should not stress youngsters for achieving 100 percent results in examinations. They should lay emphasis on conceptual learning rather than rote learning. The educational institutes should make compulsory yoga and meditation classes for youngsters. All these steps will help in checking the alarming trend of suicides among youngsters.

Sanjay Chawla

Stress-free environment must be provided

Suicidal ideations are nothing but a psychological failure of adaptive mechanisms and psychology believes depression to be the major leading cause of suicidal cases in youth. Maslow cites that humans essentially have physiological needs, safety, love and belongings and self esteem. In other words, low economical status, failure in marriage, familial disputes, broken marriage, strict parenting, physical/sexual abuse, failure in academics, familial pressure and no doubt modern relationships are the ultimate factors which are directly linked or the other to suicides. Every other day we can see a news report explaining a case of suicide and that has a heart wrenching story behind it. Another psychologist Erik Erikson describes during 18 to 40 years of age, one’s need is intimacy and forming a successful relationship with the opposite gender and failure of this again leads to depression and suicides. The solution again depends upon understanding the cause and psychology behind this. Parents need to learn the effective parenting skills and making up strategies to make their kid an emotionally stable personality. Strategies include providing a stress-free environment, encouraging child’s emotional growth by continuous appreciation and motivation which would make them feel loved, cherished and important member of the society. Parents must not force the choice of vocation or choice of boy/girl for their marriage. As these are sensitive issues, they must rather impress upon them the consequences and leave final choices to be theirs. Education needs improvisations as it’s around 18 years a child stays in schools than home. So parents and teachers both contribute to their psychological stability. Proposed strategies are to nullify method of punishment as psychology no longer recommends it. Rather teachers need to make good teacher-student relationships, where they boost self-confidence and morals of the students by awarding and appreciating their desired behaviours, grades and actions. Digital world keeps youth in a virtual world where they lack in real-time relations and warmth in the relationships, the real support and love which acts as safety shield in emotional distresses. So parents and teachers need to act with a firm and flexible parenting strategies and end up the suicidal ideations in a short time.

Sparsh Athwal

Make kids mentally tough to face life

It’s indeed heart-rending to see students who find themselves crushed under pressure ending life by suicide. I am reminded of scenes from a Bollywood movie, “Three Idiots”, in which a depressed student and couldn’t-care-less dean of a professional college drive the former to end life by suicide. No person on earth will kill himself, unless the invisible agony reaches to an unendurable level that one feels death is the only solution. India is the second populous country of the world. The jobs and resources are limited, and the competition is extremely tough. The unsurmountable pressure of achieving higher percentages, joining the topmost coaching institutes, and the onslaught of advertisements (propaganda) by these very institutes, have an untold effect on the pysche of not only students, but also parents. Being good at studies doesn”t mean being mentally strong too. How often do the parents or teachers toughen them mentally? Scoring unimaginably higher percentages in board exams give a ‘false high’ to students. Even after joining reputed colleges and universities, catastrophic environment exams and quizzes increase more than ever. This never-ending rat race is robbing our youth of zest for life. Collectively, the education system, parents and teachers need to create an environment where the youth don’t feel even an iota of pressure.

Col V K Sharma

QUESTION

As paddy procurement begins in Punjab, managing farm fires will be the first big challenge for the AAP government. What kind of strategy should be adopted to tackle the problem of air pollution due to stubble burning?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (October 6)