What students talk to a counsellor about
You don’t need a “serious” problem to talk to a counsellor. Students come for all kinds of reasons:
- Exam stress, fear of failing, or blanking out in exams.
- Pressure from family about marks, entrance exams or career choices.
- Homesickness, or loneliness in a new city or hostel.
- Trouble with friends, roommates, relationships or a breakup.
- Feeling low, unmotivated, or unable to concentrate.
- Anxiety, panic, or worrying all the time.
- Sleep problems, often from late nights and screens.
- Bullying or ragging, online or offline.
- Questions about identity, sexuality or what you want from life.
- Feeling like an impostor, or that everyone else is cleverer.
- Worries about money, part-time work or problems back home.
- Struggling with focus, or with a learning difficulty.
Exam stress: when it’s too much, and what helps
Some nerves before exams are normal and can even help you focus. It may be more than normal stress if you notice:
- You can’t sleep, or can’t stop studying even when you are exhausted.
- You avoid studying altogether because it feels overwhelming.
- Your heart races, you feel sick, or you panic before or during exams.
- You blank out in the exam hall even though you knew the material.
- You feel hopeless, or that your whole future depends on one result.
Things that help: a realistic timetable with breaks, protecting your sleep, eating regular meals, short walks, and talking to someone rather than keeping it all in. A slow breathing exercise, like our calming breathing exercise, can settle a racing body before an exam. Counselling can help with test anxiety, perfectionism, procrastination and planning, often using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which looks at the links between your thoughts, feelings and actions.
On the day of the exam
- Eat something light and drink water before you go.
- Skip the last-minute group panic about what everyone else studied.
- If you blank out, pause, breathe slowly a few times, and move to a question you know.
- Afterwards, try not to replay every answer. That exam is done.
Sleep, screens and late nights
All-night study sessions and late-night scrolling make it harder to remember what you studied and to manage stress. A fixed wake-up time, putting your phone away for a while before bed, and avoiding heavy caffeine late in the day can make a real difference.
Homesickness and hostel life
Moving away for college or coaching is a big change, even when you wanted it. Missing home, struggling with food, roommates or a new language, and feeling that everyone else has settled in faster are common in the first months. It helps to keep a regular routine, stay in touch with home without living on the phone, join one club or group, and tell someone when you are struggling. If homesickness doesn’t ease after the first term, or you stop going to classes, talk to a counsellor.
Pressure about marks, entrance exams and careers
Many students feel their whole future rests on one exam, and that their family’s hopes rest on them. Counselling can help you separate your worth from your marks, plan for more than one outcome, and talk to your parents about what you want. Some counsellors will hold a joint conversation with a parent if that would help.
Ragging and bullying
Ragging is prohibited in colleges and universities under UGC regulations. If it is happening to you or someone you know, call the national anti-ragging helpline on 1800-180-5522 (free, 24×7) or report it to your college’s anti-ragging committee. Counselling can help with the fear, anger and low mood that bullying can leave behind.
Student support programmes in India
Free support for students includes:
- Your college counselling cell. Many colleges and universities have a counsellor or student wellness centre, free for students. In July 2025, the Supreme Court issued guidelines on student mental health. Under them, institutions with 100 or more students should have at least one qualified mental health professional, and smaller institutions should have arrangements to refer students to one. Ask your student welfare office or dean of students.
- Manodarpan (Ministry of Education). A national helpline, 8448440632, offering free tele-counselling to school and college students, their parents and teachers.
- CBSE counselling in board-exam season. CBSE runs free psycho-social counselling for Class 10 and 12 students around the board exams, including a toll-free number, 1800-11-8004. Check cbse.gov.in for the current dates.
- Tele-MANAS. The government’s free mental health helpline, 14416, is open 24×7 in about 20 Indian languages.
Some colleges also partner with Mindara so their students can get sessions paid for by the college. Our page for colleges explains how this works.
How student counselling works on Mindara
- Student rate: confirm your college email address (usually ending in .ac.in or .edu.in) and a lower price appears at checkout automatically. There is no code to enter, and your college is not told. See the student rate page.
- Format: video, audio or text, whichever feels easier, at times that fit around classes.
- Language: each profile shows the languages the provider works in, including Hindi and other Indian languages.
- Free first session: some providers offer eligible new clients a free first session.
- Privacy in a hostel or shared room: use headphones, book a time when you can be alone, or choose an audio or text session.
How many sessions you need depends on what is going on. Some students find a few sessions around exams enough; others meet a counsellor regularly through a semester. You can also pause during busy weeks and come back later.
Indian students studying abroad
If you are studying abroad, homesickness, culture shock, money worries and isolation can hit hard. Talking to a counsellor from India, in your own language, can help. Appointment times on Mindara are shown in India time, so check the time difference when you book.
For school students under 18
If you are under 18, a parent or guardian can book sessions for you from their own account, and they need to be present if you see a doctor such as a psychiatrist. Choose a provider who works with teenagers. Counsellors usually explain at the start what stays private and what they would need to share with a parent, which is mainly if you are at risk of serious harm.
For parents of students
- Notice changes in sleep, appetite, mood, friendships or marks.
- Ask open questions, and listen more than you advise.
- Avoid comparing them with siblings, cousins or classmates.
- Make it clear that your love doesn’t depend on a result.
- Present counselling as a normal, practical step, never as a punishment.
When it’s more than stress
Sometimes stress turns into something that needs more help, such as anxiety that doesn’t switch off, low mood that lasts for weeks, panic attacks, eating problems, or difficulty concentrating that has been there since childhood. A free self-check, such as our anxiety self-check, can help you put words to what you feel. It doesn’t give a diagnosis, but it can be a useful starting point for a conversation. A psychologist can assess what is going on, and a psychiatrist can help if you might need medicine. Our anxiety therapy page has more detail.
If your worries are mainly about which course or career to choose, see our career counselling page.
Your first session
Your counsellor will ask what’s been happening, how it affects your studies, sleep and mood, and what you would like to be different. You don’t have to have it all worked out. Saying “I just feel stuck” is a perfectly good start.
When to get urgent help
If you are thinking about ending your life, or you feel you can’t keep yourself safe, please don’t wait for an appointment. Call Tele-MANAS on 14416 (free, 24×7) or 112, or tell someone you trust right now. See our crisis resources for more numbers.
