NEW DELHI: Sometime in early November, a 21-year-old student at the Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ), Kharagpur, developed heartburn and palpitations besides being unable to sleep at night — classic symptoms of depression. He wasn’t alone. Ahead of placements, which start Tuesday at the leading IITs, many students are afflicted as the stress of landing a top-paying job takes a toll. By the middle of November, the campus grapevine and the media make much of salaries in excess ofRs 1 crore being offered to batch mates in pre-placement offers (which precede the final ones).“Since my parents heard this, they have been calling me and checking on the trend of final placement in terms of salaries,” said the finalyear student of mechanical engineering mentioned above. The wide disparity between the highest and lowest salaries offered to students — as much as Rs 2 crore including stock options to Rs 8 lakh — is key to what’s emerging as a mental health issue for students and the schools that are meant to nurture them. Family expectations add to the stress. “Parents who are not well informed do create tremendous pressure on students.Students as well as parents should be level headed and understand that crore-plus salaries are offered to only a handful and not all get this,” said IIT Guwahati director Gautam Biswas. Babu Vishwanathan, placement advisor at IIT Madras, said many students change subjects in pursuit of higher salaries. “The hefty packages compel many students to switch to computer science stream as most students from this department get the highest compensation packages,” said Vishwanathan. Dean Sivakumar M Srinivasan said November is “pressure cooker” for both students and faculty.Students who have ranked at the top throughout their semesters are especially prone to placement depression when they fail to get picked up on the first or second day. “Even though these students at the end of placements may secure better offers as offered by Day 1 and 2 companies, these students are highly stressed out on discovering that they do not figure in the early slots,” said Shashi Mathur, professor in charge of the training and placement cell at IIT Delhi. Getting selected by a top recruiter becomes critical for many. “Students link performance to their personality and identity.This turns out disastrous for them. At least 10% of (IIT Delhi) students face an identity crisis,” said IIT Delhi student counsellor Rupa Murghai. The stress starts during entrance coaching and the exam itself, then continues with the academic grind and getting a worthwhile placement. And, because of the years-long toil, they miss out on developing some coping skills.“With the growing competition and extreme emphasis on ranks, marks and placements, our education system has transformed into more of an examination system,” said Shobhana Mittal, consultant psychiatrist at Cosmos Institute of Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences (CIMBS) in New Delhi. “When there is a mismatch in the expected and actual pay packages, a lot of distress ensues.Expectations of parents and also students’ own expectations at times are very high to live up to.” As the IIT Bombay student newsletter Insight recently said: “The issue of depression is real across the IITs.” According to an IIT Madras student counsellor, 75% of all students who seek help suffer from clinical depression. “Overwhelming competition at premier institutes often creates discontent among students who were once the best of the lot,” he said. The schools are aware of the matter and are trying to do something about it.But the problem is students typically don’t want to reveal too much of their anxieties, said a teacher at IIT Kharagpur. The IIT tried an unconventional approach, switching off the power supply to the hostels for an hour to force students to attend a group therapy session. “Pep talks and motivational talks are frowned about at IITs — students are shy of coming out in the open,” said the IIT Kharagpur teacher. A more nurturing environment is essential to help them.“In the two rigorous years that a kid spends preparing for IIT-JEE, he/she tends to lose touch with his/her emotional side,” said an IIT Bombay counsellor. “Having tenderness around the campus could help change that.”