Dr. Dinesh
Two young lives from JNRM College have been lost under tragic circumstances. These are heart-breaking events, but also deeply alarming. How does a region known for beauty, peace and diversity become a place where life is relinquished so abruptly?
Beneath the scenic charm of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands lies a worrying social pattern, with young people giving up on life at the drop of a hat. In recent years, stress factors among adolescents and young adults have become disturbingly trivial, denial of material demands such as a mobile phone, car or motorcycle, complicated relationships, peer pressure, rejection, comparison and, increasingly, loneliness. Parents are often held emotionally hostage, while digital addiction fuels jealousy and impulsive decisions.
What compounds the crisis is the absence of healthy outlets. After sundown, entertainment and social spaces are scarce. Despite the administration’s periodic collaborations with private players and the A & N Administration’s efforts to conduct events in various places, isolation grows quietly and insidiously.
Mental health conversations remain taboo. Parents fear blame, schools fear stigma, and institutions prefer procedure and paperwork over early intervention. Meanwhile, preventable lives are lost for want of timely help.
Efforts by Rotary Club of Port Blair and a few other organisations to conduct awareness programmes in schools are commendable, but sporadic events cannot substitute sustained counselling and mentorship.
Classmates and peers often detect early warning signs sooner than adults, withdrawal, aloofness, sudden silence, or expressions of hopelessness. Such red flags must be treated with empathy and escalated to family, school authorities or mental health professionals without delay.
Schools must therefore be placed on the front line of prevention. A dedicated counselling space in every major institution, supported by a trained psychologist on rotation, would allow children and adolescents to seek help without shame. Young people must be taught that setbacks, heartbreaks and disappointments are temporary events, not verdicts on the value of life.
It is time society, parents, educators and authorities recognised this not as a series of isolated events but as a growing youth and public-health concern. The islands urgently need counsellors in schools and colleges, trained responders, and an environment in which seeking help is not equated with weakness.
Beyond counselling, structured preventive interventions must also be explored. Students from schools and colleges, and departmental employees exhibiting noticeable behavioural changes, may be screened and referred to a structured five-day meditation programme. Such interventions can equip participants with foundational skills in stress regulation, emotional balance and situational coping, ultimately improving overall well-being and reducing impulsive decisions.
A dedicated support helpline centre in all major islands, not merely a phone number printed somewhere, is the need of the hour. Such centres must include trained counsellors, psychologists, emergency outreach teams and coordination with hospitals. Similar systems function effectively in other parts of India. The Andamans need not lag behind.
Equally important is the creation of healthier social spaces and affordable cultural outlets, sports, arts, music and community programmes, that allow young people to engage, express and aspire. Ensuring such spaces is not a luxury, it is a protective factor against isolation and impulsivity.
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands should be known for their beauty, diversity and opportunity, not for preventable tragedies.