Youth Spring

Mental Health is as important an aspect of health as physical health. Mental health is not just about not suffering from mental illnesses. It is also about Feeling good and Doing well. Unfortunately, many youth suffer in silence and are not able to seek help or resources to take care of their mental health. Very often this is due to the stigma atta... ched to the words mental health itself, lack of information and lack of access to preventive and promotive mental health programs and services. Apart from mental health, road safety is another challenge that we face. Adolescents and young adults are the most vulnerable sections of the population as far as road traffic injuries and accidents are concerned. Research shows that merely improving road conditions and strict implementation of road safety rules and regulations are unlikely to be sufficient, unless there are changes in driving attitudes and behaviors of the road users. Similarly, there are several other issues of relevance to mental health and well being of youth (e.g. harmful use of alcohol/other addictive substances or engagement in high risk behaviors) which need collective actions that invite and involve youth participation. In the above contexts, we see youth as possessing the resources and potentials to transform their own lives and the lives of other youth. We believe that many youth are already doing things that can bring about positive changes and there are others who are looking for ways of doing such things. We believe what youth need is a forum to connect, inspire and empower each other. This is what YOUTH SPRING aims to do. Youth Spring is a space created by the Positive Psychology Unit, Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore. The creation of this website was supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) funding for a research project on Youth Engagement being carried out by Dr Seema Mehrotra, Additional Professor, Positive Psychology Unit, Dept of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore. Jereesh K Elias & Rajeev ...Read More