We have stories to tell. Hundreds and thousands that will not fit into your 5-inch screen. We have songs to sing, of love, of melancholy, of survival, of suffering and of vanquishment too. These are the kind of songs you will never play on a loop; the kind that you skip; the kind that are ignored. We need you to tell us why you failed to teach us that our shipwrecked selves, scarred with torn sails, are as important as all of our achievements. You also told us that these are signs of cowardliness. You told us no one is going to appreciate us for the construction of our stories; you only want to hear about the marvellous ending.
Everytime we were silenced by you, told that it’s not a big deal, you were literally pushing us into oblivion. As each teardrop faded into the darkness of night, our screams and shrieks of pain were disguised as vague rhythms of suffocation, when our lungs gasped for air. We chanted obscure verses and were called lunatics.
Somehow we tried putting the idea that ‘it’s just a phase’ into our messed up brains. We tried to move on. We became young adults, all ready to conquer college, like the heroes and heroines of Bollywood’s college campus movies. How silly that we believed all those cooked-up, fake stories of youthful happiness and chivalry, while we overlooked the fact that we were about to enter into a world of competition where the ‘rabbits’—the young, the energetic, the highly enthusiastic, the over ambitious—will be the winners, and the poor ‘turtles’—the soft ones, the ones that believe in the success of the pace of their own clocks—lose everything.
Do you know that 85% of these same ‘turtles’ face depression? Do you know that most of the colleges ‘ignore’ it and throw the overused ‘it’s just a phase’ at them? Do you know that 50% commit suicide during their young adult years? No? Well then, hey there! I am one of those struggling turtles, but one that is unafraid to show her scars, the one who is unafraid to tell her story and sing her melancholia.
Let me begin with the two major issues that I’ve seen young adults face. The first is Anxiety and panic attacks. As easy to pronounce as it is difficult to go through. Panic attacks usually come in the form of chest pain, shaking of the body, shortness of breath, heart palpitation, a feeling of coldness or a chill in one’s heart, and excessive sweating. It happens majorly due to hypertension or the inability to accept certain failures.
The second is Bipolar Disorder, which we commonly think of as ‘extreme mood swings’, but that doesn’t eve begin to describe it. The symptoms include a loss of interest in usual activities, a prolonged sad or irritable mood, loss of energy, fatigue, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, sudden bursts of energy that may be dangerous, hypersomnia or insomnia.
There are plenty of things that a college can do in order to take care of the mental health of their students. First and foremost, put less pressure on them, and tell them that their grades don’t define their intelligence or capability. Tell them that it is okay to not perform at certain levels. Give them the guidance in places where they’re still lacking. Talk with them.
I have noticed many a times that college counselors, even the ones who are helpful, will talk about students’ lives to other faculty members. The management should make sure that a person appointed to this particular post is trustworthy, keeps things confidential, and is friendly and approachable to the students. Colleges can also conduct short seminars and informal sessions about drugs and substance abuse. They could keep aside one hour every week during which students can have a fun session, talk to each other, and feel comfortable. The most important thing that everyone should be taught is how to identify a peer who is dealing with a mental health issue. We should be taught how to be a shoulder to cry on to someone else who needs it.
Make students realise their worth in each activity that takes place in the college premises. Lift them up, and help them turn their weaknesses into their strengths.
Trust me, all those turtles will not become rabbits, but they will start to trust themselves, their capabilities, and those same rabbits will develop compassion for turtles too.