India Should Focus On Mental Well-Being Of Adolescents To Make For A Rewarding Investment

The World Mental Health Day comes every October 10 but we often tend to forget that adolescents are the future of a country and investing in their mental health is critical for the its growth. India is home to the largest adolescent population in the world (25.3 crore). Focusing on the mental health of adolescents is critical, given that stress, depression and increased risk of self-harm and suicidal tendencies are the leading causes of death and disability in this age-group. Although government programs focusing on adolescent mental wellbeing like the National Mental Health Policy and National Adolescent Health Program, among several, are good, these have limited success given the limited involvement of adolescents in their very designing. All these assume significance in the wake of the fact that workplace stress, stemming from various occupational hazards, is a growing concern across the globe, apart from role ambiguity, lack of recognition at work, inequity, poor working conditions and conflicting home and work demands. Stress can also arise from negative experiences such as sexual harassment or bullying at the workplace. These factors have been attributed by the George Institute for Global Health.

Interestingly, the institute recently conducted a study in Delhi and Vijayawada, on: ARTEMIS (Adolescents’ Resilience and Treatment needs for Mental Health in Indian slums). The study shows that adolescent mental health programs should be designed with them rather than simply being for them. The findings suggest that co-creation of mental health programmes with adolescents resulted in the production of materials that were acceptable to them and reflected their local context. Other studies have also reiterated the importance of co-designing interventions with adolescents to increase their acceptability. While stress is often linked to mental health issues like depression and anxiety, its impact extends further and contributed to physical issues like hypertension and diabetes. Despite a clear need to address mental health challenges, it remains an overlooked issue across various sectors in our country. Organizations must take proactive steps to improve employee mental health. The George Institute, for instance, believes that innovative public engagement, such as the Healthy Mind Street Art event it organises, where artists and researchers raise awareness on workplace stress. This is certainly a powerful way to start such conversations.

If suggestions from experts like Mercian Daniel, senior research fellow at The George Institute for Global Health India, are anything to go by, employers can adopt a range of measures, from offering professional mental health counselling (in person or virtually) to specialized support for dealing with grief and loss. Just as physical health is prioritised, mental health should be integrated into workplace wellness initiatives. This could be by way of flexible work schedules, training and awareness programmes on mental health, supportive work environment, visible support from leadership, wellness programmes, paid time-off and leave policies, workload management and putting in place anonymous feedback systems. The other simple things could be in organising wellness activities, providing healthy fruit snacks, adding plants and improving lighting for a motivational ambience, encouraging social interaction and picnics, team-building activities and regular check-in and feedback sessions.

The government has to play a crucial role in ensuring the mental well-being of the workforce. Similar to the POSH Act, there should be legally binding guidelines to address workplace stress and improve workers’ wellbeing.