The most common causes of student stress and anguish according to school and college counselors are:
• Anxiety over inability to cope with academic presure, overload of assignments and exam-related stress
• Depression over unrealistically high parental expectations to perform well in academics and extra-curricular activities
• Constant pressure to ‘fit-in’ and conform with peer groups and their socio-economic expectations
• Lack of communication between parents and children which deteriorates family relationships
• Aggressive instincts in adolescent years which encourage destructive anti-social behaviour
• Sexual pressures. This results in rising incidence of unprotected sex, early pregnancies and abortions among high school and college girls
• Use of drugs and alcohol abuse among teens
• Unhappy self-image of young people, especially girls because of physical characteristics
• Fear of failure and rejection among students who migrate from smaller cities to metros for education. They experience anxiety over inability to cope with new lifestyles
• Bullying and ragging is a problem in schools/colleges. Often this extends to emotional abuse as well, through mockery, ridicule or embarrassing victims