ThinkEdu Conclave 2021: Are young Indians depressed due to the aspiration gap?

Express News Service

The fact that most young people’s mental health issues are not just related to some kind of biological, medical or psychiatric disorder but it has got to do with social issues especially the denial of opportunities that fit the aspirations of India’s millennials is what is driving them towards depression and ultimately in resorting to the drastic step of killing themselves, said Vikram Patel, who is the Pershing Square Professor of Global Health in the Blavatnik Institute’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr Patel was speaking at The New Indian Express’ ThinkEdu Conclave 2021 on Saturday along with senior journalist and author Kaveree Bamzai. 

Speaking on mental health, considered to be the other pandemic plaguing the country and the world, Dr Patel stated that Indian youth’s aspirations are totally different from their parents and are “shaped by India’s economic development story, shaped by globalisation and of course, by social media”.

“We have this generation of India’s youth who have different aspirations from their parents, grandparents there is a real battle about whose aspirations are going to prevail. And in that battle right now, the emergence of orthodox values about young people’s sexuality, their right to choose who they love and live with is at the forefront, which is driving many young people to become depressed and ultimately kill themselves,” he added.

ALSO WATCH: