Adolescent and Youth

The mental health and well-being of adolescents and young people profoundly impact their present and future. Untreated mental health problems pose a heightened risk of developing health issues like nutrition and weight concerns, poor sexual and reproductive health to psychosocial problems like academic underperformance, interpersonal challenges, violence, addiction, and suicide to name a few.

Approximately 7.5% of India’s youth are affected by mental health disorders, ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse. Nearly 26% of individuals aged between 13-17 years experience significant psychological distress. 75% of mental health issues have their onset before the age of 18 years.

(Sources: WHO 2021, NIMHANS 2019)

We envision a world where all young people and adolescents have access to quality mental health care. Our goal is to address their well-being at an early stage with a broad focus on

Developing and evaluating scalable, evidence-based interventions
Destigmatising mental health issues through public awareness and engagement campaigns
Equipping them with coping skills and resilience-building strategies
Providing evidence-based professional support, develop innovative training programs and resources

FOCUS AREAS

Anxiety and depression

School mental health

Suicide prevention

Gender based violence

Addictions

KEY ONGOING PROJECTS

SMHPP

The programme is based on the WHO’s framework of health promoting schools. It is adapted from the SEHER program and is aimed at developing an enabling environment the school to promote health among all school community members (i.e. students, teachers, staff, and parents). The program intends to modify the school environment, for example to improve the school connectedness, improve the teacher-student relationship, to target multiple health outcome benefits, which are closely related to each other. It aims to reach everyone in the school and develop good links with the community it serves.

Dating Violence

The Dating Violence project aims to improve the mental health effects associated with experiencing dating violence among adolescents and young people (aged 15 to 24) in India. Dating violence is a form of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) that occurs between two people in a close relationship, and includes physical violence, sexual violence, psychological aggression and stalking. Instances of dating violence typically emerge in early adolescence and include emotional abuse, controlling behaviours and threats, physical violence, coerced and non-consensual sexual activities, and sexual abuse.

Baatcheet

Baatcheet is a two-year long research programme (2022-2024) which aims to design, develop and pilot a web-based storytelling intervention intended to reduce anxiety, depression and social disability among youth aged 16-24 years.

Outlive

Suicide is the single leading cause of death in young people aged 15-29 in India. Suicide is the result of a unique interaction of different social, economic, cultural, and health-related factors which causes distress to individuals in their specific contexts.

Check out all of our projects in this theme.

"Sangath's success is reflected in the acceptance that lay-delivered mental health interventions are effective"

Sangath’s success is reflected in the acceptance that lay-delivered mental health interventions are effective and sustainable and provide a much-needed way forward to tackling one of the greatest crises of our times.

Mary De Silva, Head of Population Health, Wellcome Trust, UK

"We chose to work with Sangath’s model that it is delivered by a low-cost human resource"

We chose to work with Sangath’s model that it is delivered by a low-cost human resource that facilitates activities with the whole school community to advance the cause of adolescent mental health.

Mrs. Yojana Palse, Senior Officer-Projects, Bajaj CSR Group, India

"Sangath instilled confidence, team spirit and way of working together"

Sangath instilled confidence, team spirit and way of working together not only in the slow learners but also among our teachers and hence were successful in changing the mindset.

Mr. Tulshidas P. Dessai, Headmaster, Murgaon High School, India

"Sangath’s It’s Ok To Talk initiative is one of Instagram’s first mental health partners in India"

Sangath’s It’s Ok To Talk initiative is one of Instagram’s first mental health partners in India, and instrumental in bringing Instagram into key conversations around youth and well-being. They lend an informed and inclusive perspective in the development of our products, policies and consumer facing resources that address well-being. Their interventions destigmatize discussions around mental health, enabling a safe space for expression on our platform.

Tara Bedi, Public Policy and Community Outreach, Instagram, India

RESOURCES

A Systematic Review and Lived Experience Synthesis of Self-disclosure as an Active Ingredient in Interventions for Adolescents and Young Adults with Anxiety and Depression

Pattie P. Gonsalves, Rithika Nair, Madhavi Roy, Sweta Pal, Daniel Michelson

Springer Adm Policy Ment Health 50,

2023

What are young Indians saying about mental health? A content analysis of blogs on the It’s Ok To Talk website