REMEMBER THE good old days when one could walk into any college with an 85 per cent? That's the past.

Hindustan Times spent two hours at the Aavishkar helpline in Dadar after the ICSE results were announced on Tuesday afternoon, and this is what counsellor Malini Shah said after a particularly short call: "This was from a boy who said he was depressed because he had been expecting 92 per cent but managed only 85. Although his parents were very supportive, he felt he had let himself down."

This was just another one in a string of calls from distressed stu dents and anxious parents.

Earlier, Shah had got a call from a boy who kept crying because he thought he would not do well.

"He complained of going blank suddenly and perspiring profusely . He just could not stop crying," she said. "A student's response to stress can be extreme."

Another call was from a student who was extremely tense because he thought he had not done well, but could not express it in front of his parents in the fear that they would get angry .

"We usually let them cry over the phone and express themselves without interrupting. Only then does the pressure ease. We coax them to talk about what they are going through and how they feel about not scoring well," she said.

In those two hours, Aavishkar got a couple of calls from students and three from anxious parents. Although they have not received any suicidal calls, the anxiety has been palpable. The helpline expects many more ahead, as the fallout of the results sinks in.

"Parental support is very important. Most parents tend to compare their child's results with that of a sibling or a classmate, and that is not right," Shah said.

Dr Nirmala Rao, a psychiatrist at Aavishkar, said: "Most students lead a very protected life and when their results do not meet their expectations, they receive their first major jolt. This can cause selfdoubt, anxiety and depression. They ask themselves why should this happen to me? Or what will I do now?"

URL: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=21_05_2008_002_001&typ=0&pub=264