Importance Of Mental Peace For Students Besides College Education
As young adults transition into the world of higher education by moving into colleges, a lot of changes occur in their lives. While this period of their life is critical beyond doubt as it lays the foundation of their career path, it also comes with its own share of burdens and responsibilities. Coupled with this is an additional new factor of uncertainty caused by the pandemic learning and behavioral gap.
Data and statistics prove that every one in seven youngsters between the age of 15 and 24 years in India has been diagnosed with some form of mental health issue like depression, lack of attention and anxiety. Mental health awareness in India has been very low till recent past and as a society minimal efforts have been put in to address these issues till now. The mental wellbeing movement is also feeble due lack of trained professionals.
It is the onus of colleges, in such a scenario, to take the adequate steps in order to provide mental health support to their students. Apart from creating awareness and drawing attention to mental wellbeing, colleges need to step up and undertake veritable endeavors especially post the pandemic to warrant mental peace for their students. There needs to be complete recontextualising of roles and responsibilities for the key stakeholders in the system. Furthermore transformative ways and best patterns have to be devised for promoting mental health and wellbeing of students.
By constructing engagements that focus on youth a huge difference can be made. Encouraging participants who can take up the role of mentors after undergoing training for frontline support to create a support group within the campus is another tangible method. This group of mentors should deal with issues around mental health within the campus. There should be then a team of qualified counselors on the college campus for students to access whenever the need arises.
Counseling can help students with myriad issues and work with them to define clear academic goals, amend interpersonal problems and conflict resolution, enhance self-esteem and ultimately work through personal problems which cause emotional anguish and discomfort. Last but not the least it would be very beneficial to create a special curriculum that supports and interests students and motivates them.
Education provided at college level sets the tone for the entire life of an individual and research has proven that better mental health is directly proportional to higher level of learning, creativity and productivity. A student with good mental wellbeing exhibits better social behaviour and propitious social associations.
Mental health is as important as physical health must be remembered at all times. Hence besides providing education it is imperative that colleges foray into creation of mental wellbeing safe havens on their campuses. As a result of these efforts, the students that come out of these colleges will not just be good professionals but wholesome human beings.
