Friday
12
September 2025
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM IST
Location
Room 004, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
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Navigating the Trials and Tribulations of Youth
Research Seminar Series
Shekhar Seshadri
Professor of Health
Azim Premji Foundation
Speaker
This talk will focus on the complexities of mental health among youth in India, highlighting how these challenges are often rooted in broader systemic issues. It will explore the impact of societal pressures, including the tyranny of expectations, which intensifies stress and vulnerability among adolescents. The discussion will also examine the gaps in existing mental health services, which remain inadequate in addressing the unique needs of young people. Special attention will be given to the juvenile justice system, where punitive approaches often take precedence over safeguarding and care. The talk will emphasise the urgent need to reconceptualise mental health service delivery through a transdisciplinary lens that integrates trauma-informed care, structural inequality, and systemic violence. Preventive strategies, such as rights-based education, community healing centres, and systemic reforms, will also be highlighted as pathways to building a more responsive and compassionate mental health ecosystem.
Speaker
Shekhar Seshadri
Dr Shekhar Seshadri is a child psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience in the field of child and adolescent mental health. As Former Senior Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS, his work has extended beyond the clinical population to children and child care institutions/ service providers across the country as well as the South Asia region. Some of his special areas of interest are childhood trauma, gender and sexuality issues and life skills education. He has been part of policy and legal deliberations in these areas. Also, an artist and musician, he uses a number of creative methodologies in child mental health interventions including theatre and developmental approaches. In May 2025, he completed a four-year advisory position in India’s largest public child mental health initiative SAMVAD (Support, Advocacy and Mental health interventions for children in Vulnerable circumstances And Distress - A National Initiative and Integrated Resource for Child Protection, Mental Health, and Psychosocial Care), supported by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. Dr Shekhar is based in Bangalore, India and currently works as Professor (Health) in The Azim Premji Foundation.
