Opinion: HEIs and student suicides
HEIs must re-assess the systems and processes that don’t allow for sound mental health of students
By Prathyusha Madhu, Anup Tripathi, Moitrayee Das
Student suicide rates have risen by 35.15% since 2017, with 13,089 suicides reported nationwide in 2021 alone, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). It is crucial that we examine the actions and accommodations academic institutions are making to help students navigate their mental health concerns.
Suicide is not an isolated phenomenon that can be dismissed as a personal problem.
Instead, addressing mental health issues and suicide must involve a three-pronged strategy that spans individual, community and institutional levels. It’s important to avoid placing the burden solely on students to solve their own problems and instead focus on holding the system accountable for organisational changes that can reduce distress. Rather than hiding behind ambiguity, higher educational institutions (HEIs) should actively work towards making it a safe space – especially for students belonging to marginalised communities.
Failure of Policies
It is concerning to see numerous educational institutions that are unwilling or negligent in addressing the issue of mental health. A vast majority of HEIs do not even have a dedicated cell to cater to the mental well-being of their students. This lack of prioritisation is especially worrying given the steady increase in student suicides over the years. In fact, the University Grants Commission (UGC) mandated the presence of a mental health cell in every college only last year.
Interestingly, there is no strong mechanism that ensures compliance with this mandate. Perhaps it was just a cosmetic measure instead of tackling mental health issues head-on. Additionally, the HEIs that have established such cells face numerous challenges due to which they are only partially able to alleviate the issues faced by students.
One of the biggest problems is their lack of investment in finding a strong body of psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors. In most cases, institutions stop after hiring a couple of therapists for their entire student body which could number in thousands.
This lack of resources is simply not enough to cater to the mental health needs of the students. HEIs must have enough Rehabilitation Council of India-licensed psychologists who are skilled and trained to serve the full student population with varying needs.
Moreover, students are hesitant to use on-campus counselling resources out of fear that their personal information might be misused against them. This fear is not unfounded, given the examples of universities misusing confidential information in the past. (Flaherty, C, 2022. Jancer, M, 2018)
Supportive Environment
Therefore, it is crucial that either HEIs outsource mental health resources such as counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists, or give institutional independence to them.
This would ensure that mental health professionals remain separate from the administration or management. This would enable students to seek help without fearing repercussions. By doing so, universities can help create a healthy and supportive environment for their students which is essential for their academic and personal growth.
HEIs should introduce mandatory training for faculty from organisations like Suicide Prevention India Foundation (SPIF), Mental Health Foundation of India (MHFI) and Question. Persuade. Refer (QPR Insitute, USA) to recognise the warning signs of suicide which would enable them to triage psychological crises.
As part of raising awareness, students should be enrolled in a comprehensive foundation course in mental health during their first semester. This course should cover the different mental health issues in depth, and ways to identify and deal with them. The basics of psychological issues should not just be taught to students from the discipline of psychology but should be accessible to everyone. The administration must firmly enact and enforce policies surrounding mental health, not merely put them in place.
Social Roots of Suicide
Famous sociologist Emile Durkheim’s analysis of suicide has led to the understanding that it is not an individual act, but rather a social phenomenon influenced by the structure of society. This is often dismissed in the larger context when discussing suicide.
Instead of restructuring the systems and processes to make them student-friendly, or having a conversation with their student body, HEIs spend their energies and resources on superficial acts such as observing ‘mental-health awareness days’ or putting up token posters encouraging their students to be kind. While raising awareness is important, institutions must introspect and rethink the systems and processes that don’t allow for the sound mental health of students and opportunities for their growth.
It is crucial that HEIs re-assess their purpose within societies. Rather than existing to evaluate how well one can regurgitate the content they learn, it should be a place conducive to learning, growth and fulfilment. Learning is not a linear process so why not expect the same from students? Colleges must be similar to sandboxes – a place where one can make mistakes and these mistakes will not cost them.
Allowing students to make up for lost credits or retake exams they failed will help in dismantling this highly competitive and rigid environment. It is important to understand and let students feel that accepting help is not a form of weakness and it does not degrade their intellect in any way. If universities worked in tandem with their students, they would be able to realise their true potential and perhaps even go beyond it.
Student suicides are difficult to grapple with. The loss of many young lives just serves to highlight the fact that there is something fundamentally wrong with the current system. In the same way that students’ success reflects on the college, so too does their failure. Institutions should be catalysts to growth and this can only be achieved if they unbuild their archaic understanding of academic success.
One life lost is one too many
If you or a loved one is struggling with thoughts of suicide please reach out to a prevention hotline. Your life matters.
AASRA: 91-9820466726
Kiran: 1800-599-0019
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