Disclaimer: I am an adjunct faculty member at the Desai-Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE), IIT Bombay. The institute is currently at the center of attention for student suicides on campus. I
visit campus for two months during Jan-Feb to teach a half-semester course
and have very limited access to students’ inner world as well as to the
implementation of the institute's initiatives, especially on student affairs
outside academics. The views expressed are personal.
Earlier this year, on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, I began
my class on “Problem
solving approaches” [1] at 9:30 a.m. at IIT Bombay. I traveled from Dadar for the class. Most students were second-year, with the rest from third and fourth year across various engineering disciplines, plus a few from Industrial Design and Economics programs. I didn’t know that a
second-year student had committed suicide by jumping from the terrace of a
9-storeyed Hostel-4 the night before. I could feel the heaviness in the class.
After I came to know the cause of the mood, I admitted my ignorance about what
goes on in the mind of a second-year student. “Is it the academic pressure?” I
asked. Most of them nodded, “No”. Over the years, there was a conscious effort
from the institute to increase academic flexibility and reduce pressure, they
said. Then what could it be? “Perhaps peer pressure, wanting to be an
all-rounder, earning different badges in organizing events on campus, the
struggle to stand out,” some suggested. Of course, none of us knew the details
as to why someone could take such an extreme step.
The class discussion wasn’t significantly off-track from
what I had planned. The lesson plan was to teach the different problem-solving
approaches by using “Reduce
exam anxiety” as a challenge area [2]. I had been doing the same exercise
since 2023. Students were most comfortable with a system-centric approach, which
involves dividing the system into various subsystems and then optimizing it.
That is what engineering is about. We came up with questions like “Can we
subtract the exam?” and “Can we give multiple attempts at the exam to improve
your score?” and “Instead of the teacher setting the exam, can students set the
exam?” When we applied a solution-centric approach, we asked questions like, “Can
writing an exam be as stress-free as chatting in a cafe or watching a Netflix
series?” A solution-centric approach also involves identifying internal bright
spots and learning from them. In this case, it would mean identifying students
who in the past carried exam anxiety and now don’t see it as an issue. And then
asking them, “What changed?” The mode of problem solving with which the
students felt most uncomfortable is called a sensing-centric approach, and it
needs a state of mind that says, “I don’t know why students are anxious; let me
listen and observe”. Most students would say, “Why bother? I know it already.”
Applying the wrong method to solve a problem creates bigger
problems. When Elon Musk applied the optimizing techniques of Tesla and SpaceX to make the government more efficient through the Department of Government
Efficiency (DOGE) program, it
was a disaster [3]. When the element of social complexity is high in a
challenging situation, a sensing-centric approach and a solution-centric approach,
especially internal bright spots, should be given priority. I interviewed
Shireesh Kedare, the present Director of IIT Bombay, in 2019 because he had
done work (jointly with Dr. Vijay Honkalaskar) on a systemic approach to
participatory development in solving farmers’ suicide in Yavatmal, a drought-prone district of Maharashtra [4]. A lot of the work involved just going,
sitting, and listening to farmers exhibiting tremendous pessimism. It takes
months, sometimes years, before there is mutual trust and the real issues begin
to surface. I feel the Naga
reconciliation movement is a great example of how long it takes before
warring tribes make peace with each other [5]. The point is that listening to
each other and listening to internal bright spots is an important part of
solving socially complex challenges.
Many years ago, I was also a student of the same institute,
living in a hostel, sometimes doing badly in exams. While I don’t recall anyone
committing suicide during my four years, I met a few of my batchmates years
later who said they went through severe depression and/or severe drug/alcohol
addiction. At least one of my batchmates lost decades going in and out of
rehab. One admitted he developed a caste-related inferiority complex. In the 21st
century, India remains deeply caste-conscious. So the overall problem of
student distress is not new. Perhaps social media has amplified its
intensity. But aren’t students just responding to social expectations?
We are a society obsessed with success and status, and I am
sure we are not alone. IITs and IIMs are looked upon as golden tickets to
success. In my student days, it meant going to the US. Today it means
placements with high salary packages. We are not willing to ask, “What do I
really like?” I took computer science because it was the most promising then in
terms of job opportunities. I had no prior experience with computers. I was
lucky; it took years, but I learned to ask, “What do I really enjoy?” and then
“Can I make a living by doing what I enjoy?” Many are not that lucky. The race
for success and status can easily occupy a lifetime. So the problem is clearly
not just about students.
I first became aware of the multiple dimensions of mental
health when I read Peter Chadwick’s autobiographical account of psychosis
leading to a failed suicide attempt. The first dimension is brain biology, its
structure and function. In the case of Chadwick, a medication change “worked
magically”. The second dimension is social. When Chadwick shifted from Glasgow
to West London, it meant a new job, new friends, and a life partner who were
more accepting of his transvestite nature, and a neighborhood renowned for its
liberal sexual attitudes. “This change of social scenario was immensely
therapeutic,” says Chadwick, and also says, “The importance of my relationship
with my wife could not be overstated. Love, both given and received, does turn
one away from a chronically negative mindset such as I was given at home and at
school.” Psychotherapy, especially group therapy, also works as an intervention
on the social dimension. “The psychotherapy and the combined medication also
helped me integrate thought and feeling better,” says Chadwick. The third
dimension is self-awareness, ability to observe one’s bodily and mental state,
especially the train of thought while it is moving. Chadwick calls this the
reflective stance. “To develop an attitude where one is the agent of one’s
beliefs and to retain a critical reflective stance toward them is undoubtedly a
pathway out of psychosis,” says Chadwick. Keeping a diary-cum-journal can also
help develop cultivate this dimension. Chadwick refers to this as the spiritual
dimension.
Thus, suicide is an outcome of a multidimensional process
breakdown. Brain structure and function, social interactions and expectations,
and self-awareness are the three dimensions that I could identify. Among these, the brain structure and function dimension remains the most difficult to treat
with confidence. As Andrew Scull notes in “Desperate Remedies: Psychiatry’s
turbulent quest to cure mental illness”, “Accumulating evidence published
during the last quarter century indicates that large fractions of those
diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression are not helped
by the available medications, and it is difficult to know in advance who will
respond positively to drug treatments. For many patients, a further major
problem is that such relief as the pills provide must be set against the
serious, debilitating, and sometimes life-threatening side effects that often
accompany the ingestion of these medications.” There are people like Chadwick
for whom a drug works like magic, and there are many who don’t respond
positively and/or get severe side effects. Hence, Scull says, “Contemporary
psychiatry is in crisis”.
To me, the social and the self-awareness dimensions appear
more accessible. But I could be wrong. They are extremely challenging and
involve dealing with deeply embedded beliefs. I feel listening, which is a scarce and
valuable currency, should play an important role. Perhaps mixed group
circle time involving students, teachers, and parents should be considered. But
then solutioning is not the main objective of this article. My primary
objective is to show the multidimensional nature of mental health and highlight that listening to and learning from internal dark and bright spots might offer clues about the way forward. It takes years of unwavering focus. Do we have
the time and energy?
Sources:
1. Four
approaches to problem-solving, August 31, 2014
2.
4 modes of problem-solving applied to “reducing student anxiety”, April 20,
2023
image source: istockphoto.com
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