Mental stress and strain seem to affect the minds of present generation of school students quite seriously. This is the recent finding by Dr. Manisha Joshi through her research on around 12 lakh children all over the State. Dr. Manisha is the director of Ayurbrain Arogyashakti Kendra that carries out research of ayurvedic medicines on school students to help develop their memory and reduce stress of studies.

Explaining the reason for the rising mental trauma and stress amongst school students, Dr. Joshi who has done her MD in ayurveda said, "Due to high expectations from the parents and rising competition has increased mental strain amongst school students. Around 70 per cent of the students suffer from 97.5 per cent of mental stress." The other interesting observation of school students revealed that the students with a fear for a particular subject showed pains in different parts of the body. She pointed out, "We found that students who feared from the subject of mathematics complained of stomach pain and students who feared from the science subject suffered from headache and knee pain occurred to the students who feared from geography."

In yet another twelve years of her observation and research on the children it was found that the emerging generation is much more logical, rational and less emotional than their parents. The emerging generation showed the left brain more active while their parents had right brain more active making them more emotional than their children. "This transformation is due to the changing lifestyle of children who are more exposed to television, computers and other video games. The transformation is also due to the change in the lifestyle of a pregnant woman," she reasoned.

She cited pollution, too, as one of the reason for the rising mental stress amongst the students, explained she, "The pollution is also one of the factor that enhances mental strain and makes children more aggressive in their behaviour with the parents." And at her centre Dr. Joshi provides ayurvedic remedies to reduce the mental strain of the students and help them cope with the emerging competition in academics and career. "Besides ayurvedic medicines, the other remedies like learning music and rhythmic exercises are taught to the children so that their brain balance is maintained and a state of relaxed alertness is produced." She stressed on the right quantity and right type of food for the optimum fitness of the body and brain.