‘India’s young cannot be allowed to suffer in silence’: Anupriya Patel

For a young person struggling with examination anxiety, the fear of disappointing parents, the pressure to keep up with peers or simply the loneliness of feeling misunderstood, the hardest step can often be the first one: saying, “I need help”.

It is this silence around mental health that needs to be broken, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel said, calling for a wider national conversation on the mental well-being of India’s young population.

Speaking as the chief guest at THE WEEK’s mental health initiative, ‘Healthy Young Mind, Healthy India’, Patel described the issue as one that goes beyond individual well-being, it is directly linked to India’s future.

“It's a subject that is so concerned with the future of the nation,” she said, stressing the need to make mental health a national conversation.

And that conversation, she said, must begin by recognising a basic truth: mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness. It is an integral part of overall health and well-being, influencing productivity, quality of life and the ability to cope with everyday challenges.

For India, the stakes are particularly high.

The country’s younger population accounts for roughly a quarter of its population, Patel noted. Gen Z today will soon be joined by Gen Alpha and the generations that follow. The India being built over the next two decades will ultimately be shaped by them.

“It's for you that we intend to create, build and develop India,” she said.

But behind the image of a young, ambitious and aspirational India lies a quieter crisis: young people struggling with anxiety, depression, loneliness, academic pressure, family expectations and uncertainty about their future.

Patel pointed to the 2025-26 Economic Survey and other studies indicating that around 7.3 to 10.6 per cent of India’s population, particularly adolescents and young adults, experience diagnosable levels of mental health issues. More worrying, she said, is the high suicide rate among the 18-29 age group.

The numbers, however, tell only part of the story.

The other part plays out behind closed doors—a student afraid of failing an examination, a young person overwhelmed by parental expectations, someone constantly comparing themselves with peers, or a teenager struggling with self-esteem and emotional balance.

These concerns are often dismissed as a normal part of growing up.

But, for the person experiencing them, they can be overwhelming.

Patel referred to conversations with parents, teachers and students, highlighting concerns ranging from examination anxiety and comparisons between children to parental expectations, sibling rivalry and emotional health.

The challenge, therefore, is to intervene before these pressures turn into a crisis.

India’s mental healthcare response, Patel said, needs to cover the entire arc of young life from adolescence to young adulthood and move beyond treatment to prevention, early identification and community-based support.

The government’s approach, she explained, is centred on prevention, wellness promotion, early identification, treatment, rehabilitation and community care.

Among the initiatives highlighted was the adolescent health programme under the National Health Mission, which includes adolescent-friendly health clinics at district hospitals. Peer education programmes and adolescent health and wellness days are also part of the effort.

Mental health and emotional well-being have also been incorporated into the School Health and Wellness Programme, a joint initiative of the ministries of health and family welfare and education.

Another intervention is Manodarpan, an online psychosocial support platform for students, teachers and parents.

Mental healthcare has also been incorporated into the package of services offered through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, bringing support closer to communities, including vulnerable and underprivileged sections.

But, perhaps the most important intervention is one that does not require a hospital visit at all.

For young people who may be uncomfortable walking into a mental health facility or fear that their privacy could be compromised, Tele-MANAS offers a confidential and accessible point of contact.

Launched in 2022, the national tele-mental health programme has, in a relatively short period, handled around 45 lakh calls, Patel said. The concerns range from examination anxiety and relationship problems to anxiety, depression and other common mental health challenges.

“Tele-MANAS is going to be your friend,” Patel told young students.

But, government programmes alone cannot address a problem that is deeply rooted in families, schools, workplaces and society.

Mental health, Patel argued, requires a “whole of society” approach.

The first line of support begins at home.

Parents need to create an environment where children feel accepted and safe enough to talk about their concerns. Active listening and emotional support, she said, are as important as providing for a child’s material needs.

Schools and colleges, too, need to become spaces where young people can discuss their struggles without fear of being labelled or judged.

For young adults entering the workforce, employers have a responsibility to recognise and address stress. Technology platforms also have a role, given the enormous influence digital spaces now exert on how young people communicate, compare themselves with others and consume information.

And then there is the media.

Patel said the media can play a crucial role in normalising conversations around mental health—the very conversation THE WEEK’s initiative seeks to create.

Because stigma remains one of the biggest barriers to seeking help.

Young people may fear being judged, labelled, mocked, ridiculed or treated differently. Families may hesitate to acknowledge a problem. In many cases, distress is mistaken for weakness, poor discipline or simply “a phase”.

The result is often the same: people suffer silently. Breaking that silence requires more than awareness campaigns. It requires mental health literacy—helping families recognise early warning signs, helping young people understand that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, and ensuring that professional support is accessible when needed.

For India, this is not merely a public health challenge. It is a generational one.

The country is investing heavily in the aspirations, education, skills and productivity of its young population. But that investment cannot succeed if mental well-being remains an afterthought.

Ultimately, the challenge is not simply to build more mental health services. It is to ensure that young Indians are willing and able to use them before distress becomes a crisis. That means moving the conversation from treatment to prevention, from stigma to acceptance and, most importantly, from silence to early intervention.

For a country betting on its young population to drive its next phase of growth, the cost of ignoring their mental well-being could be far greater than the numbers suggest.

The message from the government’s mental health push is therefore clear: no examination, career, relationship or social expectation should become a reason for a young person to suffer alone.

“Do not judge your pain,” Patel said, urging young people to acknowledge what they are going through and seek help.

Because a healthy India cannot be built on a generation that learns to hide its struggles.

The first step may be the simplest one: speak up, listen without judgement and seek help when it is needed.

“Your mind matters,” Patel said.