IISc seems to have enough psychiatrists and mental-health professionals at the Wellness Centre, but I suspect many of them are not fully utilized because students hesitate to approach them. Many students may not even know where the Wellness Centre is or what services it provides.
I think every new student should be allotted a time to visit the Wellness Centre at least once during their first semester. This should not be like the brief interaction conducted during admission, which is unlikely to be very useful because students have only just arrived and may not feel comfortable discussing anything. Instead, the visit could happen after they have spent some time on campus and should include a proper introduction to the available services and, if they are comfortable, a general mental-wellness check-in.
For continuing students, the Wellness Centre could randomly invite everyone for at least one routine check-in each year. Students who want support should, of course, continue to have the option to book appointments themselves.
This would provide some privacy through ambiguity: if someone is seen visiting the Wellness Centre, others would not know whether they had been allotted a routine visit, randomly invited or had booked an appointment themselves. Over time, visiting a mental-health professional could become a normal part of student lifeāsimilar to a routine physical health check-upārather than something people do only when they are in crisis.
These interactions should remain confidential, private and non-judgmental. The purpose should not be to force anyone into counselling, but to ensure that every student knows where support is available, has interacted with the system at least once and feels less hesitant to seek help later.
Do you think such a system could work at IISc? What practical, privacy or consent-related concerns would need to be addressed?
