A BATTLE OF THEIR OWN

MENTAL HEALTH AFFLICTIONS HAVE BECOME COMMONPLACE AMONG INDIAN YOUTH. TAKING MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS, THEY ARE NOW HELPING THEMSELVES AND OTHERS FIND SUPPORT AND FIGHT STIGMA

- SONALI ACHARJEE

# 1 Suicide is now the leading cause of death in the 15-39 years age group in India, per a 2021 study published in Lancet Psychiatry 

41%  The share of Indians who thought that people with mental health issues must reach out for support, which is much below the average of 83 per cent respondents for other countries, per a Unicef report

FOR MOST OF HER LIFE, RICHA SINGH, 35, HAD BEEN SOMEONE WHOM FRIENDS could confide in easily. Emotional tumult of teenage years, anxiety about the future or family spats, her friends had no qualms about opening up to her. She, too, would always lend a sympathetic ear. So, in 2009, when a friend and fellow student at IIT Guwahati decided to end her life, it left her shocked. For months, her friend had been stressed about not landing a job during a college placement drive but chose not to tell anyone. Nobody, including Singh, could have imagined that things would come to such a pass. The incident taught Singh an important lesson: people could be hanging by a thread and yet say nothing—unless they find someone they can talk to. Five years after her tragic death, Singh and another friend, Puneet Manuja, who himself is no stranger to the emotional toll of modern life, started YourDost, an online platform that connects people, especially youth, to mental health professionals and offers support.