It is that time of the year when with the announcement of board examination results students’ anxiety escalates to a very high level. After announcement of CBSE, ICSE, JAC board exam results many students are turning up to professionals for help to lessen their anxiety. City helpline numbers are buzzing with students’ calls, especially of those who have performed poorly in the board examination.
Fear of letting down their parents’ expectations, frustration over poor results and perturbation about the future are the common problems seen among the students every year during this period.
Anchal Kumari (name changed) was taken aback when she failed to secure more than 500 marks in her class XII board exams. Gripped with depression and suicidal thoughts, she called the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS) helpline centre Umaang for psychological counselling.
The helpline centre has received as many as 50 calls till date from disheartened students ever since the board results have been published. According to the professional mental health counselors the city has observed a notable rise in the number of students calling them in the last weeks.
Psychiatrist at Umaang- counseling centre for adolescent children at RINPAS Tabasum Rani said, “After the publication of class X and XII examination results over 50 per cent students, who have not performed well in the examination and were unsure what to do next have called the helpline centre to seek suggestions for their future moves. Moreover, around 25 per cent anxious parents after noticing poor sign of eating and sleeping in their children from sometime have also turned up to the counseling centers for help.”
Besides, the counseling centre of Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) which was opened only for a week to provide help to the distress students was also flooded with calls. The centre has received over 60 calls during the period.
Dr Kalawati Jaiswal who counsels students at JAC counseling centre said, “We used to get five calls every day. There are cases where students feared being teased by their peer group.”
Interestingly, this time the students even after securing above 90 per cent in class XII have also knocked doors of the counseling centres for help.
“One of the students had scored 1,090 marks out of 1,200 in his board examination but he was sad because his parents were satisfied with his performance. Although the boy was satisfied with his marks but was depressed with his parents’ opinion who do not think in the same way. The boy was insisting me to have a word with them who flatly denied for a conversation. I asked him to boost his confidence and make them understand,” added Jaiswal.