Mental Health

With student suicides rising and mental-health challenges deepening, India stands at a critical juncture. Whether schools, policymakers, and families respond with urgency – or continue to treat emotional distress as an afterthought – may determine the fate of millions of young people across the country.

The warning came during a workshop in Kabul on child and adolescent mental health. Alice James, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, urged Afghan authorities, humanitarian agencies, and civil society to adopt a unified, national strategy to address the burgeoning mental health crisis.

Using self-reported questionnaires, the survey assessed aspects such as alcohol and drug use, eating habits, physical activity levels, psychosocial wellbeing, injuries, exposure to violence and skipping meals due to food insufficiency.

Many Afghan women and girls are battling severe mental health issues, with some taking their own lives, others disappearing into Taliban prisons, and those with the means fleeing the country.

Over the last three decades, the global age-standardized mortality rate for suicide declined by nearly 40 per cent, from about 15 deaths per 100,000 to 9 deaths per 100,000, indicating that intervention and prevention are working.

The aim of NHM is to ensure progress towards the goals and targets set out in the National Health Policy, 2017 for ensuring "universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care services, accountable and responsive to people's needs".

Sri Lanka's initiatives, coupled with a focus on multi-sectoral policies, reflect a progressive approach to addressing mental health risks across the life course.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh have been identified as the states with the highest number of student suicides, together accounting for one-third of...