MaFo covered in New Indian Express today 26th March 2013

Government, universities put on suicide watch

By Express News Service - HYDERABAD

26th March 2013 11:30 AM

As we approach the cruellest month of April, the issue that’s exercising the High Court is the phenomenon of student suicides. On Monday, a division bench of the court asked universities in the city to file reports on student suicides within a week, and appointed an amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.
With troubled Intermediate students falling like withered flowers this exam season, the Board of Intermediate has been impleaded in the matter.
Nine university students have committed suicide in the city in the past one year, and the Intermediate exams earlier this month produced a rash of self-extinguishments -- including one by a child who decided to ‘punish’ her hands for writing a poor mathematics exam by putting them under the wheels of a running train.
Taking up student suicides suo motu, chief justice N V Ramana and justice Vilas V Afzulpurkar lined up a long list of authorities to fill in aspects of the problem and find ways to rid society of it. These include all the high functionaries who might have the power to do something: the chief secretary, principal secretaries of home and higher education, collectors of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts, police commissioners of Hyderabad and Cyberabad, chairman of the University Grants Commission, and registrars of 10 universities in the state capital: University of Hyderabad, Osmania University, English and Foreign Languages University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Ambedkar Open University, N G Ranga Agricultural University, NALSAR University of Law, Potti Sree Ramulu Telugu University, Moulana Azad National Urdu University and Indian Institute of Technology.
Monday was the deadline for universities to file their reports but only a few had complied and were therefore given a week more to report steps they have taken to prevent suicides. The Board of Intermediate Education has been given 10 days.
It has been ordered to submit the report of the Neerada Reddy Committee, which studied student suicides in residential junior colleges long ago.
On Monday, amicus curiae D Prakash Reddy said he has received a report from Osmania University about the steps taken by the latter in counselling the students.
Among the institutions that have already reported to the High Court, NALSAR said it has set up a counselling centre on campus and employed psychological counsellors to talk to troubled students.Learnings available from suicide helplines indicate a need to counsel parents as much as students. The Makro Foundation, which runs a helpline (040-46004600, open 10 am to 7 pm), reports that during the exam season, it receives 12-15 calls every week and an equal number of online counseling requests on live chat, the peak stress time being 4 pm to 6.30 pm.
G Aparna, manager of Makro Foundation, says many of the students make one request: “Can you please talk to my parents?”
That same need for counselling parents comes through during visits to government schools, which lack trained counsellors. “Often parents ask us to counsel them as well as their wards to stay calm during the examinations,” says Aparna. The city’s chain of cram schools also have begun to get to grips with parental pressure on children during exams. Most of them instruct parents to stop talking to their children one day prior to the exam and sequester the students on the morning of the exam.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/article1517517.ece

STRESS MANAGEMENTSKILLS FOR ADOLESCENT

• Talk about problems with others
• Take deep breaths, accompanied by thinking or saying aloud, “I can handle this”
• Perform progressive muscle relaxation, which involves repeatedly tensing and relaxing large muscles of the body
• Set small goals and break tasks into smaller, manageable chunks
• Exercise and eat regular meals
• Get proper sleep
• Break the habit of relying on caffeine or energy drinks to get through the day
• Focus on what you can control (your reactions, your actions) and let go of what you cannot (other people’s opinions and expectations)
• Lower unrealistic expectations
• Accept yourself as you are; identify your unique strengths and build on them
• Give up on the idea of perfection, both in yourself and in others

Symptoms of Adolescent Stress

• Increased complaints of headache, stomachache, muscle pain, tiredness
• Shutting down and withdrawing from people and activities
• Increased anger or irritability; i.e., lashing out at people and situations or Emotional outburs ts
• Crying more often and appearing teary-eyed
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Chronic anxiety and nervousness
• Changes in sleeping and eating habits, i.e., insomnia or being “too busy” to eat
• Risky behaviours-Take help of  alcohol, drugs, sex to deal with their emotions and problems.
• Physical symptoms like:Nausea, headaches, sweaty palms or chest pain,Rise in blood sugar levels,Increased blood flow to arms and legs ,Increased blood clotting
• Depression
• Poor concentration or memory retention
• Violent or anti-social behavior
• Nervous habits

Adolescent Stress

Introduction About Stress:

Everyone is affected by stress and reacts to it in different ways. Stress is a way that our body responds to the demands made upon us by the environment, our relationships, and our perceptions and interpretations of those demands. We all experience both "good stress" and "bad stress."

Good stress is that optimal amount of stress that results in our feeling energized and motivated to do our best work. Good stress encourages us to develop effective coping strategies to deal with our challenges, which ultimately contributes to our resilience. Bad stress occurs when our coping mechanisms are overwhelmed by the stress and we do not function at our best.

Adolescence: The developmental stage that occurs from puberty to maturity, lasting from about ages 12 to 18 (there is some debate about the exact age range, but 12-18 is a commonly accepted range). There are numerous theories about the changes that occur during this stage of life, but one thing that is consistent is that this is a significant time of change and growth. During this time of life one's  transition to adulthood takes place.

I think stress is a problem for teenagers like when you get a certain age, you start worrying about certain things, like, when your puberty comes, your body starts to develop more, and then you get to worry about school, your families, and what most people think about you.

Adolescence and stress.-THINGS THAT CAN CAUSE YOUTH S T R E S S

• School pressure and career decisions
• Family Pressure,peer conflicts
• Dealing with Physical/Mental/Emotional/Cognitive changes in the body
• Pressure of performance.
• Pressure to be accepted in peers/groups like wear certain types of clothing, jewelry, or hairstyles
• Pressure to be a particular size or body shape. With girls, the focus is often weight. With boys, it is usually a certain muscular or athletic physique.
• Dealing with the physical and cognitive changes of puberty
• Self  Doubt, Sense of Loss
• Being bullied or exposed to violence or sexual harassment
• Crammed schedules, juggling school, sports, after-school activities, social life, and family obligations .

Impulsive Control Disorder

Impulse Control Disorder is the failure to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to the person or others. An increased sense of tension before committing the act and then experience pleasure or gratification or relief at the time of doing the act. Following the act there may or may not be regret

Following are some disorders:

1) Kleptomania is characterized by the recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects not needed for personal use or monetary value.

2) Intermittent Explosive Disorder is characterized by discrete episodes of failure to resist aggressive impulses resulting in serious assaults or destruction or property.

3) Pyromania: is characterized by a pattern   of fire setting for pleasure, gratification, or relief tension.

4) Pathological gambling: is characterized by recurrent and persistent maladaptive gambling behavior.

5) Trichotillomania: is characterized by recurrent pulling out one’s hair for pleasure, gratification or relief of tension those results in noticeable hair loss.