This mentality is extremely dangerous

What is becoming of Kerala? Where are we, our children, heading for? The question of increasing concern is crowding everyone’s mind. The incidents that Kerala is witnessing for some time are not only painful and dreadful but burning us on the inside. The wailing rising from all around us call for the community to engage in deep pondering, studies and solution. Here is an extremely scary situation of having no hesitation to shedding blood and taking lives. The most recent of them is the tragic incident of five people of a family being bludgeoned to death in Venjaramoodu, Thiruvananthapuram. The massacres that a teenager committed taking time travelling different places, for whatever reason, is shocking anyone with conscience. The number of familicides in the two months since the birth of 2025 are not a few; the number of mass killings and suicides are not decreasing but increasing. Notwithstanding reasons being pointed out like broken families, isolation and drug, the incident symptomizes that society’s overall mental health is in great danger. Various reasons behind the Venjaramoodu massacre including financial crisis drugs, alcohol, and mental state are being investigated. Whatever the reason is, we need to discuss and urgently seek a solution to the extremely frightening mental state that has degenerated a man to brutally killing his mother, brother, girlfriend, and close relatives. Crime and suicides are increasing due to the use of alcohol and drugs. Our legal systems fail miserably in preventing them. Bailing out culprits using legal loopholes and political protection they get render all preventive efforts futile. A report previously released by NIMHANS in Bengaluru said that more than 10 percent of people surveyed in 12 states have poor mental health, meaning one in 10 people is mentally unstable. In their report to the central government they warned that the situation was too much for a developing country like India. Experts have pointed out that our state lags behind in mental health while performing high in other health index. Adding alcohol and drugs to the unhealthy mental state causes a state of unconsciousness and madness leading to demonic crimes.

It is a fact that our society has changed a lot. The atrocities emerging from schools and colleges compared to the past are indicative of it. Ragging methods like flushing a classmate's face pushed in the toilet commode are acts unthinkable even for uncivilized societies. Some teachers openly say they live in terror of students since the use of intoxicants crossed all limits. Unlike in the past, the availability of all kinds of alcohol and drugs, regardless of age, even in the backyards, has become a breeding ground for atrocities. Yet we are opening new liquor shops. What could be expected of the anti-drug awareness campaigns spearheaded by the authorities who signed punitive action against the officials for charging the son of an MLA for the possession of intoxicants?

It is not easy to find solutions to restore mental equilibrium of society when age is no longer a factor in crime. Mental health care for children should start from homes and schools. Only then can at least the next generation be protected from a terrifying situation. Children should be taught what emotions like empathy, compassion, kindness, and affection are. They should be taught that not every game can be won, and failure is also part of life. Every 'enlightened Malayali' , be children or adults, should have the maturity to accept that seeking treatment for ‘mental injuries’ is much like treating physical injuries. The only way out of this vicious circle is to get ready for correction from this moment, without waiting for greater disasters.