Prevalence of Mental Health issues in Adolescents in South India

Mental health is a priority as much as physical health. Since the pandemic, mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, self harm, OCD etc are being more prevalent. More awareness is needed for breaking the stigma of mental health especially in countries like India. Survey method was implemented to obtain data on the prevalence of mental health issues in adolescent population in South India. The data was obtained from both parents of adolescents and adolescents. Demographic variables such as urban-rural, education and occupation status of parents, availability of mental health support resources, etc were studied. Non parametric analysis was used to analyse the data obtained. Implications of the study is to develop more strategies to educate parents, adolescents, teachers and medical professionals so that the stigma is broken and the accessibility for mental health services is better.

Dr Keerthi Prabhu has Masters degree in Psychology, MPhil in Clinical psychology from Kasturba Medical College Manipal and PhD from Madras University. She is Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Apollo hospitals, Mental Health Advisor in Apollo Shine Foundation, Partner in Element H Psychological Support Services, Guest faculty in Institute of Mental Health Services, Vice President South Zone of Clinical Psychology Society of India; certified CBT trainer from CBT Australia and Professional Supervisor from APA Australia. Speaker in TEDx in 2025, she spoke on emotion regulation in adolescents. Trained in Giftedness counseling from European Talent Search Network and she works with identifying - conducting psychological evaluation for children with giftedness and providing psychological therapy for children giftedness as well as their parents.