Psychiatrist Varghese Punnoose, specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry, has some advice on coping with the pressure: Special arrangementWith the class 12th results of almost all boards out, students are facing pressure of getting into colleges and universities of their choice and the soaring cut-offs are only to adding to their woes.
Psychiatrist Varghese Punnoose, specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry, has some advice on coping with the pressure in a brief interview with Onmanorama.
Q. What is your advice to students who recently completed school and are facing pressure of getting into colleges/universities of their choice?
Students are forced to take important career decisions at the tender age of 16-17 years when the brain functions are not fully matured. This leads to the tendency of being driven by trends rather than passion.
Students should not be swayed by superficial factors like infrastructure, location and brand names of colleges. Do not let the wave of a 'popular career' guide you. Important decisions like these require proper profiling of the student with his capabilities and interests taken into consideration.
Q. Would you say that a successful career depends on the marks one scores in exams?
Colleges in India have a fundamental problem of assessing and admitting students based on their scores. That is why they create mediocre graduates at best. Unless detailed screening of aptitudes and attitudes of aspiring professionals is done, we will keep creating graduates with low skill levels. Students too must try to identify what they like and what they intend to learn to excel in their life.
Q. What is your advice to the parents of these students?
Some parents seek professional help from psychologists with regard to admissions after school exam results. The problem is that more often than not, these parents have already made up their mind about what career they want for their wards and want us to convince their kids to agree with them. This approach to mental health is wrong and can end up ruining the careers. They get admitted to courses they do not like only to realise after a semester or two that they are not able to live up to someone's expectations. No successful professional will be created that way. Parents and teachers must understand the student's aptitudes and should help them make the crucial decisions through discussions.
Q. Why do you think mental health is not taken into consideration while taking important career decisions?
I do not know how long it will be before a foolproof system of educational assessment is developed in the country, but with the right approach and awareness, this can eventually be attained. Earlier, few universities used to assess students based on group discussions, interviews, essays and more. This system needs to be developed and adopted throughout. Instead of outright rejection, students also need to be given feedback on their failure or success. If mental health is not taken into consideration, students will become disillusioned and end up with chronic problems like depression.
(Dr. Punnoose recipient of the Dr. J S Satyadas Oration Award for excellence in medical teaching and is on the board of Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry as an associate editor. )
