Board Exam Stress: Students Turn To E-Counselling (Representative Image)
New Delhi:
"I thought I wouldn't clear my board exams, and I would just cry all the time. Thinking what will happen if I fail?" says Ankita, an 18-year-old Delhi-based student currently in the middle of her 12th standard board exams. She adds that preparing for her boards was so stressful, even her parents couldn't fully understand what she was dealing with. Eventually she started texting a counsellor on a mental health app to talk about her anxiety, and this is an option several CBSE, ICSE and state board students across the country are choosing.
Rashi Ahuja, an online counseller with the mental health app ePsyclinic, explains, "It usually starts in February, after the pre-board exams where students see where they stand. And if they don't do well in the pre-boards, that's when they get stressed and realise they need counselling."
This trend has led to a huge spike on the websites and mobile apps of mental health start-ups during the exam season, with 2-year-old start-up YourDost reporting double the usual traffic of 45,000 monthly queries. Founded by a businessman-psychologist duo, the Delhi-based e-counselling start-up wayForward records a 30% increase from their usual 7000 monthly users, and ePsyclinic sees a 10% spike too.
"Students are coming on the platform to talk to counsellors about their anxiety, and it's not just students," explains Richa Singh, co-founder of YourDost. These apps say parents are also turning to e-counselling for help with how to deal with their children's distress.
"A lot of the time, the parents end up adding to the child's anxiety. They have aspirations and hopes for their children, and there end up being gaps in communication," adds Navya Singh, psychologist and co-founder of wayForward.
Texting tops the list as 70% of students prefer chat-based sessions, with phone and video calls coming in second and third. E-counsellors attribute this to young users being more comfortable with texting as a medium. While most schools do have a counsellor on campus, students say they prefer the anonymity of using a mobile app or website since you don't have to reveal personal details to access a session.
"The stigma around mental health still exists in India. Although it has gotten much better with Bollywood movies and stars openly talking about depression, but there's still a long way to go," says Puneet Manuja, co-founder of YourDost.
Only 1 out of 10 people with mental health problems in India receive any sort of treatment, according to the Lancet China-India Mental Health Study 2016. "There is a huge gap in terms of trained experts for counselling and psychology in India," shares Ritvik Singh, co-founder wayForward. Navya adds, "Sometimes, they come in to try out the app, but they don't stay. So they don't continue with sessions, that's a kind of lack of maturity of this space in India."
Apart from stigma, Indian mental health start-ups also hope to tackle other roadblocks in this space such as lack of access, albeit for those that can access and afford these services.
60% of board exam-related counselling queries originate from Tier 1 cities, and most of these apps claim 40% come from Tier 2 and 3 city students. Still, most e-counsellors maintain that online counselling is not meant to replace physical therapy, but work hand-in-hand with it.
Rashi Ahuja, an online counseller with the mental health app ePsyclinic, explains, "It usually starts in February, after the pre-board exams where students see where they stand. And if they don't do well in the pre-boards, that's when they get stressed and realise they need counselling."
This trend has led to a huge spike on the websites and mobile apps of mental health start-ups during the exam season, with 2-year-old start-up YourDost reporting double the usual traffic of 45,000 monthly queries. Founded by a businessman-psychologist duo, the Delhi-based e-counselling start-up wayForward records a 30% increase from their usual 7000 monthly users, and ePsyclinic sees a 10% spike too.
"Students are coming on the platform to talk to counsellors about their anxiety, and it's not just students," explains Richa Singh, co-founder of YourDost. These apps say parents are also turning to e-counselling for help with how to deal with their children's distress.
"A lot of the time, the parents end up adding to the child's anxiety. They have aspirations and hopes for their children, and there end up being gaps in communication," adds Navya Singh, psychologist and co-founder of wayForward.
Texting tops the list as 70% of students prefer chat-based sessions, with phone and video calls coming in second and third. E-counsellors attribute this to young users being more comfortable with texting as a medium. While most schools do have a counsellor on campus, students say they prefer the anonymity of using a mobile app or website since you don't have to reveal personal details to access a session.
"The stigma around mental health still exists in India. Although it has gotten much better with Bollywood movies and stars openly talking about depression, but there's still a long way to go," says Puneet Manuja, co-founder of YourDost.
Only 1 out of 10 people with mental health problems in India receive any sort of treatment, according to the Lancet China-India Mental Health Study 2016. "There is a huge gap in terms of trained experts for counselling and psychology in India," shares Ritvik Singh, co-founder wayForward. Navya adds, "Sometimes, they come in to try out the app, but they don't stay. So they don't continue with sessions, that's a kind of lack of maturity of this space in India."
Apart from stigma, Indian mental health start-ups also hope to tackle other roadblocks in this space such as lack of access, albeit for those that can access and afford these services.
60% of board exam-related counselling queries originate from Tier 1 cities, and most of these apps claim 40% come from Tier 2 and 3 city students. Still, most e-counsellors maintain that online counselling is not meant to replace physical therapy, but work hand-in-hand with it.
