Mental health is a crucial part of our overall well-being. In recent times, people’s lives are inadvertently being affected by various factors that have led to a decline in overall mental well being of people, especially students . A prime example of that would be the after effects of COVID-19 pandemic and its uncountable effects on health and mental well-being. COVID-19 brought a halt to the day to day proceedings of academic life, severing all senses of routine conduct. Students were mainly impacted by this sudden change as it separated them from their primary space of growth l, learning and socialization. The isolation faced by them due to their sudden separation from friends, teachers and peers and the subsequent home arrest stunted their growth and productivity as well as their general well-being.
What’s the solution?
Therefore in such trying times, government intervention became the main instrument for bringing about a positive change and a ray of light and hope amidst the seemingly gray monotony of everyday life that lockdown had brought about across the globe. In India, this crisis was tackled with the introduction and implementation of The Manodarpan Scheme in the year 2020. So, let us dive deeper into the significance of government intervention for mental health check and awareness, and the subsequent role that Manodarpan played in it.
What is Manodarpan?
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world came to a standstill and its many adverse effects on students led to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and Ministry of Education to launch the ‘Manodarpan’ initiative under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to provide psychosocial support to students for their Mental Health and Well-being. It was launched on 21st of July, 2020 and since then, it has remained an active campaign adding to the legacy of government effort in tackling challenges related to mental health on a public level.It was introduced to act as an element of strengthening human capital and increasing productivity in the education sector.
Manodarpan as a scheme is not limited to students, but also takes parents and teachers into its ambit to promote greater discussions on mental health and by providing a safer and more productive space for students, parents and teachers to interact, understand one another, co-operate on academic and other aspects and seek support. Mental health plays a crucial role in academics, as declining mental health can lead to reduced cognitive functioning such as concentration, memory retention and others. Other than that, mental health awareness has become increasingly crucial in the Indian context as the lack of access to proper resources persists. Therefore, Manodarpan aims to tackle these challenges effectively.
Manodarpan has a cause that is larger than that. Mental health is not important simply because of its role in academics– but the overall mental health of the country’s children and youth is important to ensure that the citizens of the country are healthy, happy and content. Putting a check on mental health and providing resources for maintaining mental well-being ensures that the future generation will not only be productive but are also able to be a strong force in action. It recognises that for humans to function well, it is crucial that they are also happy and mentally fit.
How does Manodarpan extend help?
The platform includes various different resources that can be accessed by those in need. From national toll free numbers to programmes and online resources, Manodarpan covers every aspect in providing psychosocial help.
The platform includes a national toll free helpline that students of various schools, colleges and universities can use to seek psycho-social support from a pool of experienced psychologists, counselors and mental health professionals. It is also for both students and teachers to help them navigate tense academic situations.
It empowers and supports human productivity and efficiency and aids in psychosocial means through reforms and initiatives in the education sector. Some of these reforms, initiatives and programs are:
- Advisory guidelines
- National Toll free helpline 8448440632
- Web page with practical tips, posters, videos, do’s and don’ts, FAQs and
- An online query system, for psychosocial support
- Handbook on 21st-century skills for school students
- National-level database
- Directory of counselors
- Interactive online chat platform
- Webinars and audio visual resources
Importance of mental wellbeing in students
Having a healthy body is not enough, it is also important for students to have a healthy mind. Here are a few of the reasons which highlight the importance of mental well-being in students.
Academic prowess
Stress, anxiety, depression or general distress can become obstacles in the path of academic fulfillment. Therefore it is important to ensure mental well-being in students to enable them to enjoy their academics and subsequently ace in it.
Resilience
Having a positive outlook is a part of having a healthy mindset, therefore, taking care of one’s mental health makes them more resilient to life’s challenges. .
Social interaction
A healthy mind allows them to be socially well adept and adaptable people. It allows them to enjoy social situations, events and forming important bonds.
Behavioural Development
A healthy mind becomes a ground for learning adaptive and healthy behavior patterns. The encouragement of healthy behavioral patterns are important to promote a better framework for meeting the challenges of life in a healthy manner.
Motivation and Morale
A well rounded mental health is crucial for students to cultivate motivation and morale. This in turn, aids them in their overall success in life
Maintaining Healthy Interpersonal Relationships
It is often said that one cannot love others if he cannot love himself. It is important to have self love and a healthy mindset to be able to maintain interpersonal relationships.
Emotional Resilience
Having a healthy mental health makes a student emotionally resilient to distress and disappointment and other negative emotions. It provides them strength to overcome adversities in life.
Contentment and Happiness
Promoting a healthy mind also promotes a positive outlook on life and adds to the overall happiness and contentment of the students, thus, making their quality of life better.
Declining Mental Health Among Students
Students all across the globe are being affected by various stressors in their environment, therefore leading to increased mental anxiety and negative feelings. Students are often subjected to social and familial pressures.
Often, students in India face constant academic pressure from their parents and teachers, to the point that their own choice is diminished.
It is a common occurrence in India for parents to influence the choice of career or education for their children.
This often puts children at a position where they are forced to learn or get into something they aren’t interested in.
Problems such as these can greatly affect a student’s mental health.
Therefore, this calls for more discussions and talks on students’ mental health.
Often, parents are simply ignorant or unaware about psychological wellness and therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for more conversations on mental health in teens and students to open up.
Therefore, measures to make mental health care easily affordable and accessible to students coming from every walk of life in a diverse country such as India, becomes important.
Social Context of Mental Health in India
Have you ever wished to seek help for your psychological distress but are often faced with an eye of judgment and stigma?
This is an incredibly common issue that people of all ages have to endure in Indian society. Often, mental health is shrouded in stigma and a perpetuating lack of awareness that results in people shaming any act of seeking professional help. Those who recognise their mental health issues and wish to seek help for it are often labeled as insane or ‘abnormal’. Even though it is as normal or as human as it can get to seek help and lead a better life.
The stigma surrounding mental health and emotional vulnerability often results is perpetuated by a lack of conversations and information on mental health awareness.
Why is Government intervention needed?
According to data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 13,089 students died by suicide in 2021
This represents a 70% increase from 7,696 student suicides in 2011.
The number of student suicides in India since 2011 has generally increased every year.
These statistics are enough of an indicator to the dire situation of mental health declination in India.
This urgently calls for government intervention to protect the youth and ensure productivity for the coming generation by providing a safe and emotionally, physically and resourcefully secure educational space for them.
The factors that lead to such extreme measures cannot simply be tackled by self-care.
Sometimes, it requires immediate professional intervention and care to bring a lasting change in one’s mindset in the direction of a holistic well-being.
Counseling and professional help can bring a large positive impact on the student body of India and the Government needs to be the facilitator of invoking that change.
How can Government Schemes on Mental Health be useful?
There are many reasons that emphasize the importance of government schemes for the protection of students’ mental health. Some of these reasons are:
- Spreading awareness: Government schemes bring awareness to persisting issues in the society that are usually ignored or overlooked. Schemes mandated by the government reach a larger audience. Therefore, bringing a lasting impact.
- Providing Large scale support: Since government programmes are public and targeted to a large mass of people, they have a higher impact. Such programmes hold the power of helping students all across the country on a large scale.
- Stigma Reduction: Stigma associated with mental health is one of the primary reasons for the lack of intervention in cases of various mental health disorders such as anxiety disorder, depression, stress and others. Large scale government schemes stand as a role model for people to learn from, therefore, reducing the stigma associated with psychological distress and its treatment and prevention.
- Integrated approach: Government schemes aim at providing an integrated approach to mental health awareness by incorporating mental health awareness with educational courses, textbooks, school or workplace programmes etc. this helps in reaching a diverse demography.
- Early intervention: Government schemes help in early intervention and prevention of any extreme consequences of psychological distress. They provide an easily accessible ground that people can rely on.
- Student empowerment: Schemes and programmes under the government work intensively towards empowering students and providing them with resources to help them and strengthen their academic journey.
- Providing publicly accessible and affordable resources: Government schemes are specifically targeted towards public interest. Therefore, they are easily accessible for people from all financial or cultural backgrounds.
- Long term societal benefit: Government programmes aim at bringing about a long term societal benefit. The various resources and services provided by these schemes culminate in providing a holistic and long term positive impact on the society.
Challenges tackled by Manodarpan
Manodarpan emerged as a response to various issues that the students faced due to the sudden shift in events. Some of these were
- Sense of isolation
- No social / playtime
- Family income/unemployment fears
- Death in the family
- Behavioural issues in the family
- Sudden Changes in teaching and learning
Impact of Manodarpan
Manodarpan had brought about an unchangeable impact on the health and Education sector by empowering students. The objective of Manodarpan is to empower the students as well as the two sectors of Health and Education by its various services and resources. It has provided key resources such as helpline, counseling services, online resources, workshops and other facilities that have empowered students to access the benefits of psychosocial support and take precautions to maintain their mental well-being which in turn empowers them academically.
This scheme has also reduced stigma on mental health and has opened new doors for parents and older generations to be educated about mental health and the importance of seeking professional help. This reduces the stigma by normalizing mental health as something as important as physical health and well-being. Manodarpan has provided impactful changes in all aspects of life and continues to do so even today. It helps students to cope with stress and anxiety,
Promotes better academic performance,
Ensures stress free education,
Ensures mental health well-being, Promotes positive mental health among individuals, families, communities to ultimately help students to lead a happy, fulfilling and mentally satisfactory lives.
Manodarpan has also played a crucial role by providing aid in resolving mental conflict with oneself or other interpersonal conflicts. It also helps in aiding students with personal, interpersonal or familial issues or conflicts while also aiding students with financial issues or career anxiety.
Therefore, it has demonstrated the importance of large-scale awareness to bring about a positive change that benefits the youth and empowers the student body of the nation while also ensuring happiness among the citizens.
844 844 0632
National Toll-Free Helpline Number to address students' psychosocial issues
