But then experience doesn't lie either. Child clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and counsellors don't hesitate to admit a rise in the incidence of mental and emotional problems faced by kids today. "I see many more cases of anxiety and panic attacks among students today," says Geetanjali Kumar, a counsellor with Delhi's Hansraj Model School who has been working in the field for 14 years. Dr PC Shastri, the Mumbai-based president of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (IACAM), says that in the last 10 years, there has been almost a 400% increase in mental health problems for children. "Twenty years ago, adults were cautioned that stress could worsen problems like ulcers. Today, even children have it," he says. A 2004 report in Lancet had stated that teenagers in Vellore in Tamil Nadu had the highest suicide rate in the world. It found that the average suicide rate for male and females aged between 15 and 19 years was almost 4 and 70 times higher, respectively, than that in developed western countries. The suicide rate for females in the age group was 148 per 100,000. In the UK, the corresponding figure is 2.1.

Even if we accept and understand the disturbing scenario, there are few immediate remedies. "India doesn't have enough humanpower trained to deal with mental problems in childhood," says Dr Srinath of NIMHANS. We need more psychologists, psychiatrists, super-specialised paediatricians and counsellors, as well as more regional centres for mental health. While the 11th Five-Year Plan is concentrating on mental health care, we need to work in more directions to cover the ground already lost.

The underlying causes are, of course, many. And they have more to do with the changing social norms and life styles than the mental makeup of a distressed child. "Even though children may be more genetically pre-disposed to problems like ADHD and depression, environmental factors can do much to aggravate the condition," says Dr Gupta. Dr Shastri blames the rapid changes in society. "Parents and schools are not able to cope with it. There is a conflict whether technology is going to help or hurt." Kumar, who also counsels students on the CBSE helpline, feels part of the problem lies in the weakening of social support system around children. "Parental supervision is declining while the influence of the media and peer groups is increasing," she says.

There are no role models either. Many parents are materialistic, and teachers don't have adequate qualifications or training to handle kids' problems. Parent-teacher meetings are more of mutual blaming exercises. Friends can make even the most slipshod child brand conscious. And television and video games can desensitise them towards the horrors of gore. They, after all, see violence being justified in Iraq, and 10 TV channels flash one incident of murder for 24 hours. Their skill at playing most video games comes from destroying the maximum number of objects in the minimum time. Lokesh Dadwani, 17, was killed in Ahmedabad this past week when his friend shoved his elbow down his throat in WWF style. And bullying, which took 14-year-old Abhishek's life, is something kids are exposed to all the time. "Four out of the 10 students who come to me complain of being bullied," says Kumar. "The bullying kids see no vice in it. They see their fathers stare hard when another driver honks at their car, their mothers make a rickshawala ferry them for Rs 2 less... We ourselves passively teach bullying to our children." And wail when it reveals its ugliest side.