Kolkata: The rising number of suicide cases, especially among the age group between 15 and 30 years, can be prevented if the silence and stigma around mental health are broken through conversations, feel experts from a leading NGO dealing with kids, adolescents, and youngsters.
According to them, it is imperative to spread awareness among parents, teachers, and caregivers about mental health and equip them with supportive tools so that they can nurture coping skills and resilience among adolescents and young people. This is crucial because 14% to 19% of students in Bengal report suicidal thoughts.
State coordinator, mental health and documentation of Child In Need Institute (CINI), Suchandra Gupta, highlighted that the toll-free helpline, Teenline, received an average of 300 calls per month from April to Aug. "Of these, 8–10% were related to self-harm, primarily from North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Howrah, and Uttar Dinajpur. Other common concerns included exam stress, concentration difficulties, mobile addiction related to online games and social media, cyber crimes and bullying, family relationship conflicts, and challenges in romantic relationships," she added.
Senior programme manager, Adolescent Resource Centre, Santwana Adhikari, said, "We request educational institutions to initiate discussions on mental health and collaborate so that we can conduct workshops to address the issues."