This article has been authored by a member of The Quint. Our membership programme allows those who are not full-time journalists or our regular contributors to get published on The Quint under our exclusive 'Member's Opinion' section, along with many other benefits. Our membership is open and available to any reader of The Quint. Become a member today and send us your articles at TQmembersonly@thequint.com.The spectre of suicide, for Indians in general and students in particular, has been rising for some time in the country. Students account for 8.5 percent of the total cases, which should be sufficient to alert us all. Even as the national suicide rate came down from 12.3 per lakh population in 2023 to 12.2 in 2024, students’ deaths by suicide registered a 4.3 percent rise from 2023 data. According to the 2024 report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), over 14,000 students die by suicide every year in India. Recently, 20 students died by suicide in the aftermath of irregularities in the NEET-UG exam. According to the Global IIT Alumni Support Group, 65 student suicides were reported across IIT campuses between 2021 and 2025.Skin Tone, Status, and Body Shaming: The Many Faces of Bullying in Schools TodayHow Fear OperatesA dozen things are going on in the mind of a student who is either preparing for a competitive exam or pursuing studies in a prestigious institution. When things do not fall in place and plans get awry, they might think that they are not worthy.The imagined spectacle of mockery and ridicule is a tormenting thing. One might think that they will not be able to do so again. Picking oneself up from the ruins is an uphill task. More often than not, the thought of being perceived as unworthy in the eyes of others is the ultimate breaking point.These suicides cannot be attributed solely to mental health issues and are deeply shaped by systemic factors such as exclusion, harassment, and peer pressure. The need to critically examine fear—its underlying causes, dimensions, and manifestations—cannot be overstated.We need a fundamental resetting of societal values and understanding to stem the tide.Helplines have been established, and mental health practitioners have been made available in various institutions. The Supreme Court affirmed that mental health is part of the Right to Life, and a task force was established by the Central government in 2025.These measures help, but without a philosophical re-examination of the concept of life itself and our place in it, there will be no major change. Understanding the manner in which fear operates can help navigate this storm.The Joke is on Us: Why Mental Health Demands More Than a Checkbox in SchoolsRaising Children DifferentlyWe often think of our fears as problems, while the fact of the matter is that they are our guides, helping us connect with ourselves and revealing ourselves to our eyes. Fear is considered undesirable in our imagination. It must be avoided, resisted, and kept at bay. However, what if it reveals parts of ourselves that we have not yet acknowledged? What if it is not something to be dreaded but embraced? What if we are running away not from our fears but from facing ourselves? On the other side of fear lies a different person with a different sense of being. We must raise our children with the sensibility that it is normal to feel scared and jittery. It is fine to be vulnerable, and there is no moral responsibility that falls upon anyone to be firm and unshakeable at all times.There comes a time in a person’s life when they are exposed to the vagaries of fate and no one else is left to fend for them. There comes a time when she must confront her deepest fears and shallowest frailties. The anxieties of livelihood, responsibilities, and impending work seem to bog her down. But what is a life worth living if we have not squared up with the ugliest realities of our half-formed and untrained minds? The lack of trust we have in our abilities and fortitude is the root cause of our failure to do what we would want to do. We believe that we will fall short of this task. Often, the thought that we will be stopped halfway makes us paralysed. However, all of this is acceptable. The human spirit is capable of overcoming everything.We overestimate our challenges and tend to underestimate our resilience. When razed to the ground, with each step we take, we are adding to our mental reservoir in real terms. What frightens us is already staring us in the face. The things that make us feel puny in our own estimation seem to reign supreme in our lives. All the worst that was imagined is happening before our very own eyes. But, does it behove a human being to be scared of death? We do a disservice to our honor by being subjected to indignity. What remains of the promises we made to ourselves? What became of the commitment we had so solemnly wished to institutionalise? Nevertheless, there is no reason to be so timid to be laid in bed. Fear should not instill anxiety. Anxiety is a fear, a bull that has not been taken by its horns and whose contours have not been established in the mind to be able to make sense of it. This anxiety does not let itself be articulated. There is a resistance to unraveling it, which gets the better of us. What are we afraid of? What are the precise constituents of the chain of fear ? If it could be named, it would lose its nuisance value. This is, because while naming it, the state of mind is transcendental, and a mind that has begun to understand fear cannot be expected to be laid to ransom by it.'Who Do We Turn to When Our Parents' Marriages Fail': A Teen Student WritesThe Concept of GlorySometimes, it is only enough that things get rescued and salvaged and not necessarily bloom and prosper. Fear presents itself as a supposition that things are so bad that glory and achievement are not possible, and one might as well not even begin. However, is salvaging the boat not an achievement in itself? Is rescuing the sunk, the trailing, and the suffering not glorious? Or is a crowning glory desired? This brings into question the very concept of glory. Does it always have to mean adulation and gracing the pedestal? Is it always the destination? If one capitulates to their fears, then no season is worth enjoying. Summers bring heat, and winters mean chill. Autumn is characterised by decay, and rainfall is restricted. However, the summer siesta is sweet, and the winter snow brings mirth to the heart. Autumn is a time of regeneration, and rainfall is cleansing. Similarly, will we put conditions on seasons to live fully and mindfully? To accept the rose and reject its thorns. Always primed for success but never embracing the pain, discomfort and dread when they take their turn. The liberation could be in walking straight into the arms of fear, with full responsibility but detachment from the consequences and then let it be released by emptying it out of its imputed horror and nuisance. Equanimity is the word.(Obaid Farooqui is a research scholar in the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad. He frequently writes mystical poems and memoirs in private and is planning to come up with a blog of his own. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)Breaking Free from Academic Perfection for Our Kids