Spot signs of anxiety, depression to curb student suicides: Experts

Raising an urgent red flag over rising distress among schoolchildren, a workshop on “Cultivating Mental Wellness and Preventing Suicide Among Students” was held here on Saturday, bringing together over 100 teachers, counsellors and parents in a concerted push to tackle what experts called a mounting societal failure. The programme was organised by the Chandigarh Citizens Foundation (CCF) in association with the Chandigarh Administration.

Opening the workshop, Bindu Arora, Deputy Director, School Education, said the growing instances of young children taking their own lives and suffering severe mental health issues were a sobering reminder that society had collectively failed its youngest.

The first session featured Prof Ajeet K Sidana, Head of Psychiatry at GMCH-32, and Dr Krishan Kumar Soni, Additional Professor of Psychiatry at PGI, who stressed early identification of anxiety, depression and behavioural changes among students. They urged teachers and counsellors to engage more proactively with students to detect warning signs. Clinical psychologist Navneet Kaur of GMCH-32 presented case vignettes that sparked detailed discussions on real-life challenges.

In the second interactive session, parents of affected students, teachers, counsellors and other stakeholders shared lived experiences, screening tools and classroom-level interventions. Counsellors emphasised evidence-based therapeutic approaches, while teachers underscored the importance of peer support networks and normalising conversations about emotional struggles within classrooms.

The workshop consolidated several actionable strategies, including strengthening peer mentoring systems, mindfulness and yoga sessions, 24x7 helplines and introducing mandatory mental-health training for educators. Participants also proposed deeper partnerships with mental-health specialists and curriculum modules focused on emotional resilience and coping skills.

JM Balamurugan, general secretary of CCF, announced that a core team of mental-health professionals and other stakeholders will now hold intensive brainstorming sessions with the School Education Department to formulate long-term programmes for implementation across all schools. These would include sensitisation workshops, practical tools and sustained intervention frameworks aimed at creating supportive, stigma-free environments for students.