Porikroma Desk : North South University’s Student Counseling Center and Proctor’s Office have organized a seminar and an interactive discussion session on October 30, 2023. This event is aimed to raise awareness of mental health issues and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

Esteemed psychologists and mental health professionals from different institution were present in these events. Among them Professor Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT) was the keynote speaker of the seminar. Dr. Mahjabeen Haque, Director, Office of the Students Counselling and Guidance, University of Dhaka and Dr. Mekhala Sarkar, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Hospital were present as the guest speakers.

In the welcome speech, Mr. Syed Asif Hossain, Proctor (In Charge), NSU addressed the boarder ignorance and stigma regarding mental health in the country and how mental health should be taken care equally important as physical wellbeing. He also briefed on the functionality of the North South University Student Counseling Center and its role on students mental sanity.

Then, Professor Dr. Mahjabeen Haque talked about how the overuse of social media is impacting interpersonal bonding and different aspects of life. She urged students to talk to family, relatives and friends to make emotional bonding rather than too much glued to social media. She also emphasized on acknowledging the emotional disturbances and seek support from professionals.

Dr. Mekhala Sarkar discussed on common mental health issues of youths and coping strategies.

The keynote speaker Professor Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman draws attention on introducing different life skills courses in the curriculum so that the students can be better equipped to deal with their mental health issues at individual level. He also suggested other universities to collaborate to conduct research that would reveal a pattern of common issues among students and develop strategies for better management.

The session chair, M. Ismail Hossain thanked the speakers for their insightful discussions on wellbeing of the students’ mental health. He raised a concern on how depression initially affects students in their academic results, personal life and social life. He also added that the poor academic performance due to depression ultimately leads to increasing financial burden and more depression.

In the second part of the day, an interactive session on overcoming exam stress was facilitated by Ms. Ishrat Shermin Rahman, Clinical Psychologist, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. In this session, the common exam stressors were identified and a few effective coping strategies were discussed.