John J. Kennedy | Mental Health On Campus: It Needs Much More Than Just Counselling!

The University Grants Commission’s new guidelines on mental health and well-being in higher educational institutions deserve appreciation. They recognise a crisis that India’s universities can no longer ignore. Student suicides, rising anxiety, depression and emotional distress have become recurring features of higher education across India. The guidelines propose dedicated mental health centres, counselling services, faculty mentoring, peer support, crisis management systems and awareness programmes. These are sensible measures. They reflect a welcome shift from treating mental health as a private problem to recognising it as an institutional responsibility.

The real challenge, however, begins after the policy is announced. India has produced many thoughtful education policies. Their impact has often depended on implementation, or the lack of it. The UGC guidelines face the same test.

Many universities and colleges already struggle with severe faculty shortages, inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms and weak student support systems. Hundreds of affiliated colleges lack enough teachers to meet academic requirements. Expecting these institutions to recruit qualified psychologists, establish fully functioning wellness centres, and sustain professional counselling services without additional financial support may not be realistic. There is a risk that many institutions will comply on paper while changing very little on the ground.

The shortage of trained mental health professionals presents another challenge. India already has too few psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors for its population. Recruiting qualified professionals is difficult even for well-funded private universities. Smaller colleges in rural districts will face even greater difficulties. Partnerships with hospitals and external agencies may help, but they cannot substitute for a permanent support system within campuses.

The guidelines also recommend faculty mentoring. Many students need a trusted teacher who listens, guides, and notices when something is wrong. But mentoring requires time, training and continuity. Faculty members who teach large classes, handle administrative responsibilities, meet research targets, and work on short-term contracts cannot easily provide sustained mentoring.

Unless universities improve staffing and reduce excessive workloads, mentoring may remain an aspiration rather than a reality.

Implementation alone, however, is not the central issue. The larger question concerns the way Indian universities themselves have changed. The discussion on student mental health increasingly uses the language of counselling, therapy and psychological intervention. These services are necessary. They provide support when students face emotional crises. However, emotional distress does not develop in isolation. Universities themselves often create conditions that contribute to stress, loneliness and hopelessness.

Many campuses have become highly competitive spaces where academic performance, placements and employability tend to dominate student life. Students move constantly between classes, coaching, internships, competitive examinations and online learning. Success is measured through grades, rankings and job offers. Failure carries a high social cost. Many students hesitate to admit that they are struggling because they fear being judged by peers, teachers or even their families.

Several institutional practices add to this pressure. Delayed examinations, uncertain admissions, inconsistent evaluation, research pressure, administrative indifference and poor grievance mechanisms create avoidable anxiety. Ragging, discrimination, harassment and social exclusion continue to affect many campuses. Counselling can help students cope with these experiences, but it cannot remove the conditions that produce them.

Many students also experience a deep sense of isolation. Universities were once places where students formed lasting friendships, participated in debates, joined cultural groups, and built close relationships with teachers. Today, digital communication has expanded social networks, but it has not replaced human connection. Students may interact constantly online and still feel profoundly alone.

This loss of community affects some students more than others. First-generation learners, students from rural backgrounds, linguistic minorities, and students from marginalised communities often enter campuses that are culturally unfamiliar. Many still struggle with language, confidence and social acceptance alongside academic work. A counselling session may help them after distress becomes severe. A supportive campus community may prevent that distress from developing in the first place.

Another concern deserves attention. Over-relying on therapy can shift blame from institutions to individuals. Students who feel lonely are encouraged to seek counselling; those experiencing burnout are advised to manage stress; those facing exclusion are expected to build resilience.

These responses help, but they also leave universities free from examining their own practices.

Institutions must ask whether their own academic culture contributes to emotional distress. The success of the UGC guidelines, therefore, depends on more than just creating counselling centres. Universities must make students feel respected, included, and heard. Teachers need time to mentor; classrooms should welcome questions without humiliation; the administration should respond fairly and quickly. Clubs, arts, debate, sports and community engagement should be central to campus life, not optional extras.

In all this, trust is crucial. Students will use counselling services only if they believe their privacy will be protected. Counsellors must function independently and maintain strict confidentiality.

Institutions must create confidence that seeking help will never affect a student’s academic standing or future opportunities. Universities should also carefully evaluate the success of the initiative. The number of counselling sessions or awareness programmes cannot be the only measure of progress. Better indicators include lower dropout rates, stronger student participation, healthier teacher-student relationships, quicker responses to student grievances, and fewer mental health crises.

In short, the UGC deserves credit for recognising student mental health issues, and its guidelines offer a useful framework. But success depends on universities treating mental health as a governance issue, not just a counselling service. Counsellors alone cannot offset institutions that remain stressful, indifferent or fragmented. The crisis, therefore, demands more than just therapy; it needs less stress, stronger mentoring, rebuilt communities, and relationships placed at the heart of higher education. Without that shift, the guidelines may remain another policy that promises much but changes very little.

The writer is retired professor and former dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Christ University in Bengaluru