Need for a Mental Health Ecosystem: No Checkbox Arrangements Anymore!!
Smriti Joshi
Digital Mental Health Specialist; Founding team member @ Wysa | Member BOD, Keynote Speaker
Learning that so many of our future professionals are struggling deeply troubles me—not just professionally as a psychologist but also personally. Each number in that report represents a young person, perhaps someone’s friend, child, or sibling, struggling under pressures that are clearly overwhelming.
The revelations from various studies and National Medical Council about the mental health crisis among students aren't just data points; they are a distressing signal that we must rethink how we nurture and support our future professionals. This issue extends beyond medical and engineering colleges, starting from the intense pressures of senior school and preparing for entrance examinations for not just medical coaches but first to gain admission in coaching classes that help prepare for competitive examinations. While some institutions have started implementing support programs, these measures are just the beginning.
Creating a Safe Ecosystem for Young People
While the NMC's steps towards implementing gatekeeper programs, regulating duty hours, and providing continuous counseling are essential, these measures are just the beginning.
We need to create an environment in schools and colleges that prioritizes mental health from day one. means building a safe ecosystem where every student feels supported, understood, and valued. A comprehensive approach includes gatekeeper programs, peer support, and digital interventions with human oversight.
Gatekeeper Programs and Peer Empowerment
Gatekeeper programs for training individuals to recognize and respond to signs of mental distress should be widespread and mandatory, ensuring that every student, faculty member, and staff member is equipped to act as a first line of defense against mental health crises.
Empowering peers to offer psychological first aid is another crucial step. Peers are often the first to notice changes in behavior or mood, making them invaluable in early intervention efforts. Training students to support each other, provide initial comfort, and guide their peers to professional help can create a network of care that extends beyond formal support services.
Digital Interventions with Human Support
Digital mental health interventions have proven effective in supporting individuals pursuing higher studies and demanding careers. Research shows that platforms offering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness training, and peer support can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students and young professionals. For instance, a study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research highlighted the effectiveness of online CBT in improving mental health and academic performance among college students.
However, digital interventions should not stand alone. Human support must be integrated throughout the mental health care pathways. Combining digital tools with regular check-ins from mental health professionals ensures that students receive comprehensive care.
Addressing Diversity in Needs and Social Determinants
Every individual deserves mental health support tailored to their unique needs. Recognizing the diversity in students' backgrounds, social determinants, and personal experiences is crucial in creating effective support systems. Mental health programs must be adaptable and inclusive, offering a range of services that cater to different cultural, social, and economic contexts.
Strategic Steps
To enhance mental health support via technology and human touch, several strategic steps can be taken at the government and organizational levels:
Training and Awareness: Educate students, faculty, and employees about the benefits and use of digital mental health tools. Regular workshops and awareness campaigns can help reduce stigma and encourage the use of these resources. of
Digital Health Platforms: Integrate digital mental health platforms with existing educational and healthcare systems to provide affordable, accessible mental health support at scale. Ensure these platforms provide a seamless link to human support when needed.
Crisis Identification and Intervention: Implement systems that use data analytics and machine learning to identify crisis moments. These systems can monitor usage patterns and flag users who may be at risk, providing timely interventions and directing them to crisis support portals like Tele-Manas.
Policy and Funding Support: Governments should allocate funds to develop and maintain digital mental health infrastructure. Policies should encourage the adoption of digital tools and ensure they are accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic status.
Collaboration with Mental health Tech Companies with : Foster partnerships between educational institutions, healthcare providers, and Mental health tech companies to innovate and improve digital mental health solutions. These collaborations can lead to the development of more effective, evidence based user-friendly platforms. Do ensure there s a clinician in the leadership when choosing the right mental health tech company to partner with.
Who bears the responsibility to lead this Call of Action?
ALL OF US!!!
Just having systems in place , say technological solutions like the Tele-Manas portal are promising tools for offering support. Yet, technology alone isn't enough.
It needs to be part of a broader strategy that includes real human connections—where students don't just log into a system but feel genuinely heard and helped.
As someone who spends every day considering how to better support mental health, I find the plight of these students particularly poignant. This is more than a professional interest; it's a human concern. How we respond to this crisis will not only affect the future of these students but the very quality of our professional fields.
The mental health of students is a collective effort, and each stakeholder has a unique and vital role to play.
For Management: School and college administrators can prioritise mental health by creating policies that support wellness initiatives, reducing excessive academic pressures, and fostering an environment where students feel safe to express their concerns. By implementing mental health programs and providing resources for students, management can set the tone for a supportive educational atmosphere.
For Teachers: Educators are on the front lines, interacting with students daily. Teachers can create a classroom environment that promotes openness and trust, encouraging students to speak up about their struggles. Providing training for teachers to recognize early signs of mental health issues and knowing how to refer students to appropriate support services is crucial.
For Parents: Families play an essential role in the mental well-being of students. Parents can support their children by maintaining open lines of communication, being vigilant for signs of stress or anxiety, and encouraging a balanced lifestyle that includes time for relaxation and hobbies. Understanding the pressures their children face and being supportive rather than pressuring them further is vital.
Together, we can create a robust support network that addresses the diverse needs of students, ensuring that they are not just academically successful but also mentally healthy.
We owe it to these students, to their families, and to ourselves. We are not just shaping future professionals but the future of our country.
Let’s not allow this moment to pass as just another statistic in next year’s reports.
I welcome anyone who wants to work together, share feedback, or brainstorm ideas on this vital issue. Please feel free to reach out to me at smriti@touchkin.com
Consultant Psychiatrist and Parenting Educator @Parentingmantra.com
9 个月Thank you Smriti Joshi for bringing up this important topic. It's good to look at remedial measures which you have so beautifully pointed but unfortunately the guidelines remain on papers. Stress is immense not only because of ungodly duty hours, skewed life balance but also that we the doctors work in settings where lives are at stake. It's time we shifted the focus to preventive psychiatry and not just treating them. Good counseling can go a long way specially if accessed early enough. Meditation and yoga are emerging as some of the best research backed tools for stress and anger management and developing resilience which can mitigate a lot of this crisis. The Stress reduction tools should become part of student's life while they are at school and be integrated in family life. Even when people come in for depression/anxiety there's so much that can be done on the holistic management rather than just fixing the depression ( which ofcourse is of paramount importance when a client walks into your clinic in distress). It's my personal experience born out of more than a decade's practice as psychiatrist most people don't have to be on antidepressants forever if we guide them properly with a holistic model. What do you think?
Director - Marketing and Business Development (Exhibition Stands & Pavilions) - Asia, Europe and The Americas.
9 个月Commenting for further reach!
Visiting Scientist, Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health
9 个月This is an excellent op-ed, Smriti Joshi, and it points to many of the issues that need to be addressed. From the little I know, however, I wondered if reducing the overall level of stress to which professionals and students are exposed in their working lives is a feasible pathway. Or, should we, following O'Connor and Kirtley (https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0268), look further down-stream from the pre-disposing factors to motivational factors (such as the sense of being trapped and being a burden on their families) and volitional factors (such as impulsiveness stemming from, perhaps, lowered serotonin levels), which may offer more feasible pathways towards reducing the burden of attempted and completed suicides. I would be eager to know what you think.
Thanks for shining a light on this critical issue, Smriti Joshi. We have many active medical students in our program, and we're happy to be helping them recover their mental health. But we'd be even happier to see fewer med students in distress. As you rightly point out - the system needs to change so as not to foster these struggles to begin with!