NLUs must stop 'show business'; prioritise students' mental health: Dr Pallab Das

The legal profession is one that comes with a unique set of pressures. Law school life too comes with its own complex issues. The latter especially remains woefully underacknowledged.

The transition from high school to coaching for high-stakes entrance exams like the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) to highly competitive universities is not easy to navigate. 

In India, academic pressure is compounded by societal and parental expectations, financial strain, callous faculty and a seemingly insurmountable barrier to entry. This has created an ecosystem in which students struggle with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. And the struggle, shrouded in stigma, is silent and invisible.

It is only when tragedies strike law universities across India that mental health concerns become a topic of discussion. Often, it is only after students lose their lives to suicide that educational institutions "reassess university systems" and "engage in conversation to discuss the way forward".

A few months go by, surviving students get busy with exams and internships and the conversations die down.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of India to set up a national task force to address these concerns in higher education institutions, including law schools.

While constituting the task force, the Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan noted that the number of student suicides has surpassed the number of farmer suicides. 

It is in this backdrop that Dr Pallab Das, Dean of the School of Law Centurion University in Odisha, along with a team of researchers, undertook a study of mental health of law students. 

The study focused on 103 students from various law schools in Odisha. The findings and suggestions can be found in the recently published book - Understanding Mental Health through the Prism of Law. 

Dr Das spoke to Bar and Bench's Giti Pratap about the unique struggles of law students and about how to address them.

Edited excerpts follow.

Giti: Why did you choose to focus on the mental health of law students alone? Are law students more prone to mental health issues? And if yes, why?

Dr Das: The State of Orissa as such has a 68% depression rate, out of which a lot are students from the age of 15 onwards. Since I hail from legal background, it was easier for me to understand the minds of the students who belong from the legal background. Secondly, it is said that the legal industry itself is a stressful profession, right? So, I wanted to know how do they feel about when they choose law and what is the difference when they come to know the reality of law.

Giti: What mental health issues are most prevalent in law students as per your research? Could you tell us a little bit about their symptoms?

Dr Das: I'm very particular about using the word "disorder" and not "sickness", as it is something that has gone out of order in your body. We also know that there are environmental factors. Being born as a particular gender is a factor. But the most common form of mental disorder starts with a feeling of loneliness. That feeling of loneliness stays for a prolonged period of time and culminates in what is called as depression.

I have studied this field for almost 12 years now. And whenever you have depression, anxiety is something that often comes along with it. Some people might have anxiety disorder but without depression. These things are inter-related.

Another is bipolar disorder, which there are feelings of extreme happiness and extreme sadness. The third thing - which I've seen in a lot of people but could not include in detail in the study - is bulimia, an eating disorder.

Giti: Is the environment at law colleges and faculty attitudes contributing factors to these mental health disorders?

Dr. Das: In India, around 50 million children are affected by mental health issues. Why do they get affected? Of course, economics plays an important part and we cannot help that. Keeping that aside, I think that there is a need for mentorship from the ages of 14 to 16, when you are crossing your 12th standard and deciding what to do next. What has been happening is that our parents say you will do engineering or medicine.

But law was a field comes when they say jo kuch nahin kar paata, woh law karta hai (those who can't do anything else will do law). Even till today, we hear this phrase. Of course, that changed when NLS and all the NLUs started coming up, but that's a different story.

We do not know who we are at the age of 15, 16. We really do not know the real picture of litigation or corporate lifestyle. But we have to earn money. You see the pressure starts building. Had you been mentored properly, you would probably have chosen something else, which is what the Western world is all about. They do not have 32 subjects to study. They have sports, they have dance, they take breaks in between their careers. But here, when Indian companies take interviews, they see that you have taken a gap year and think there's some problem with you.

People who are in a position of authority need to understand this and empathise. That is very, very important.

Giti: There has been an unfortunate number of law students dying by suicide in the last few years. Usually, it is only after these incidents that the universities even speak about mental health, making it a reactionary afterthought. What concrete steps should law schools take to integrate mental well-being into their policies so as to prevent these tragedies?

Dr. Das: The first and foremost thing is to stop the show business. NLUs have all become a show business. Of course, there are other private universities, but I'm saying this because there is so much pressure built up by these law colleges. You start the semester and nobody thinks about an individual student as a human being. Yes, students will make excuses not to come to class and do all kinds of things to enjoy their life. We must not punish them because of this. The book I've written considers students from all sorts of colleges. I'm sorry to say, but the majority of suicides are happening in NLUs. Why is it happening? These are supposed to be state-of-the-art institutions.

I think what is happening is that we are all busy. For example, I am teaching and I'm in an administrative post. When there are so many students to take care of, if I take care of them individually, I get bogged down. But does that mean I should say whatever will happen, let it happen? We cannot have that attitude.

A lot of things are happening on pen and paper. There are organisations which proclaim to be supporting mental health programs in universities. But in reality, what is happening is that they just issue red flags. When it comes to contacting the student with whom there is a problem, the issue is not taken seriously.

So, I think there is still a space where we can implement comprehensive mental health programs. People are taking this very lightly.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has said that every university must have Tele-MANAS (a toll free mental health helpline). But how many universities have that? We must raise awareness of these things and then we must join hands and make some noise to reduce the stigma. Just because I'm going to a counselor does not mean that I'm mad. Just because I'm taking psychiatric medicine, does not mean that people should stay away from me. You see, these are the thought processes which are ingrained in people's minds.

Faculty and staff should engage in meaningful discussion with the students about mental health. I know of faculty members who say that students will take the excuse of depression to not come to class. I said please try to understand, let us create a supportive environment.

Giti: What advice do you have for law students who may be going through a difficult time? 

Dr Das: This is not just for the young law students but also for lawyers. It's okay. Something can happen chemically inside your body. And if you admit it openly, it is much more liberating. I have been suffering from clinical anxiety for the past 12 years and I've been on several medications. When I tell you this, I feel more liberated. Nobody can stigmatise me any further. If you have diabetes, you will take medication and the same thing goes for anxiety.

Secondly, if you want to eradicate the stigmatisation of mental health, please talk about it if you have gone through it.

Giti: Do you think any legislative amendments or institutional interventions could help address law students’ mental health?

Dr Das: I think we have enough laws in place in India. We have the Mental Healthcare Act. 2017. The challenge is implementation. Section 115 decriminalised attempting suicide, which is a wonderful provision. But this is real life and when you are feeling depressed, you really don't bother as to whether you're a law student, whether you're a fashion student, whether what will happen to you, whether you go to jail or not. You only think about the pain. We require more people of loving nature. We require more people who at least try to understand this. People say chal bahar chalte hain sab theek ho jayega (let's go outside, you'll feel better). My own people have said this. So we really don't need any laws to stop suicide. We need more awareness to stop suicide. We need more people to talk about it. For me, I wish I had somebody to talk to, someone who could understand the anguish and despair. That is what we need more of.

You can buy Understanding Mental Health through the Prism of Law here.

If you or anyone else you know are facing mental health issues or having suicidal or self-harming thoughts, please access the helpline number given below:

iCall - 9152987821 (Health Helpline - Mon—Sat, 10 AM—8 PM. Languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, Kashmiri.)

Aasra offers support to individuals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.

24x7 Helpline: 9820466726