The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has tied up with the Mental Health Foundation (India) to start School Health Clubs, an initiative aimed at engaging with students to ensure their mental and emotional well-being in the future.

The programme is to be implemented at the national level and is being tested in the Capital. Dr. Nand Kumar from the Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, stated that the aim is to reach out to 50 schools (private/government) in Delhi and will later go national with the programme. Besides school students, teachers and parents will also be a part of the programme.

This free-of-cost programme will try and educate students through videos, theatre and group activities. Doctors say that young adults are seeking help for issues such as anger management, emotional instability, lack of tolerance and reduced attention span among others. According to National Mental Health Survey (2016), 1 in 20 people suffer from depression in India.

Depression, anxiety and substance abuse together are called Common Mental Disorders (CMD). CMDs are affected by a wide range of socio-cultural, economic and political factors. Yet when it comes to addressing CMDs, it is often seen in the limited view of clinical diagnosis.