MENTAL ILLNESS ON THE RISE AMONG STUDENTS Teen urges peers to open mind's doors

Anouska Saraf

JHINUK MAZUMDAR, TT, 18 March 2019, Calcutta: A 17-year-old has put her mind to helping her peers speak out about mental health issues. 

Anouska Saraf, an International Baccalaureate (IB) student at Calcutta International School, has launched a mental health awareness campaign to engage in one-onone conversations with students and hold a mirror up to them. .

Age has been on Anouska's side as students are more likely to open up to someone their age who speaks their language. .

“I want people to talk about mental illnesses just as they would talk about diabetes or cancer. If someone has cancer, we sympathise with them but if someone has a mental illness, we shut them out,” said the Year 1 IB student, who also helps fellow students consult a mental health professional. .

“They need not contact me. They can contact or talk to anybody as long as they know there is somebody who can understand what they are going through and provide some support,” she said. .

Psychiatrist Jai Ranjan Ram said talking to a peer may be a good idea. .

“One of the advantages of a peer talking about something is that it's more relatable. .

There is immense value in teenagers spreading awareness about mental health because there is greater acceptance when something comes from peers,” he said. .

Anouska launched the Speak Now campaign in August 2017 and went full steam with it last year. She has also spoken about mental health awareness at the school fest as part of the programme. .

It was a two-week internship opportunity initiated by the school in the mental health department of a city hospital that acted as “an eye-opener” for Anouska. .

She realised “mental illnesses abound and few are aware”. “Even if they do know, they don't really talk about it,” she said. .

It was during the internship that Anouska, while browsing through anonymous case studies, realised how common mental illnesses are among young people and decided to address it in her own way. “Anouska casually talks to people in her age group and tells them that if they are feeling in a particular way they should go and seek help. At her age, she also has an idea of peer and academic pressure and knows what this age group is going through and easily connects with them,” said Munmun Nath, the principal of the senior school. .

To connect with the students, Anouska puts up posters on the school campus and uploads videos on social media. .

She has already helped a high school student who was going through a tough time as his parents were splitting up and he had to take care of his younger siblings and a girl who was stressed about college admissions. .

The boy was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder when he consulted a professional. 

Psychiatrists said there is a growing trend of mental Anouska Saraf speaks on mental health awareness at her school illness among young people. "According to World Health Organisation (WHO) data from 2017, 50 per cent of the mental illnesses that we see in adults start at the age of 14. We are diagnosing mental illnesses much earlier and the common ones are generalised anxiety disorder, panic attack, depression and schizophrenia," psychiatrist Sanjay Garg said.

Garg pointed out that there is a "70 per cent treatment gap" in mental illnesses, where those who have mental illnesses do not seek help because of the stigma attached or because they do not know when and whom to approach".

Ram said greater awareness would help people reach out to experienced professionals.