Address the mental health of youths hit by lockdown, campus closure

The young generation of the country are now under severe mental pressure under the adverse impact of the lockdowns and campus closure brought by the deadly novel coronavirus. The mental stress of the country’s 34.9 per cent of the population exceeded all past records this time. At least 70.8 per cent of youths are mentally shattered. Suicide attempts among them have increased and need to be addressed soon in order to save them. The global scenario of young and adolescent mental health is not different from the national scenario.
According to Aachol Foundation, a significant number of youths have tried to commit suicide during the Covid-19 period. A recent study tried to identify various mental health problems of young people, identifying the causes of suicide and finding ways to solve them. The findings showed about 14,436 suicide incidents occurred in the country within the span of a year. About 38.1 per cent of youths have thought of suicide, but they did not implement it, about 8.3 per cent have prepared various mediums for it but did not succeed while 3.7 per cent attempted suicide but failed.
A Unicef study also revealed that globally 27% of 15-29 years olds are feeling anxiety and 15% undergoing depression. For 30%, the main reason influencing their current emotions is the economic situation, while 46% report having less motivation to do activities they usually enjoyed and 36% feel less motivated to do regular chores.
Youth are particularly overwhelmed when stress is connected to a traumatic event-like a natural disaster or pandemic. Support from family, society, and peers is a must to bring out shattered youths from mental illness. Access to in-person or virtual counselling or therapy can help deal with suicidal thoughts and behaviour, particularly during a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic. The government should also focus on the mental health issue of youths and take immediate measures to address their problems. Otherwise, the nation would have to pay heavily.