A Mindful Approach to Healing: Addressing Youth Violence and Depression in Sri Lanka
View(s):Every day, we witness incidents of suicide and violence among schoolchildren and youth in the country, with a growing number of cases particularly affecting young people. While this trend is not unique to Sri Lanka and is also seen in Western contexts, as a nation with over 5,000 years of proud civilisation and history, Sri Lanka should be especially concerned about these developments.
In 2022, Sri Lanka’s suicide rate was 15 per 100,000, with males at 27 and females at 5 per 100,000. Older males (55+) had the highest rate (65/100,000), and young women (17–25) led among females (10/100,000). Hanging accounted for 69.9% of suicides (WHO, 2024).
When examining the reasons for suicide, social and economic issues often emerge as significant factors. Those who commit suicide may view their actions as a way to resolve severe physical or psychological struggles. Global research, such as studies conducted in 2012, has shown a clear link between bullying, including ragging, and depression in victims. Some studies even suggest that depression can contribute to violent outcomes, including murder.
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But now it can be seen that many schools, universities, and companies as well as institutions across the globe are conducting programmes of mindfulness to get away from depression and many problems. What is mindfulness? There are hundreds of definitions that can be seen from different roots. But the following definition defines this with the essence of Buddhism: “Mindfulness is a spiritual or psychological faculty that, according to the teaching of the Buddha, is considered to be of great importance in the path to enlightenment.”
In Buddhism, the concept of mindfulness has been discussed under the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is a practical roadmap to ethical and mental development to free the individual from attachments and delusions and understand the truth about everything. According to the table below, mindfulness can be considered as one part of mental development.According to Mindfulnet.org, “Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to, and seeing clearly whatever is happening in our lives. It will not eliminate life’s pressures, but it can help us respond to them in a calmer manner that benefits our heart, head, and body. It helps us recognise and step away from habitual, often unconscious emotional and physiological reactions to everyday events. It provides us with a scientifically researched approach to cultivating clarity, insight, and understanding. Practicing mindfulness allows us to be fully present in our life and work, and improve our quality of life”.So We can summarise mindfulness as enabling calm responses to life’s challenges, fostering clarity, awareness, and presence, ultimately improving well-being
Some mindfulness programmes are successfully conducted in schools and universities. In Buddhism, we learn Anapanasathi, which means ‘mindfulness of breathing’. The same is conducted in some mindfulness programmes in the initial stage. In some elementary schools in the U.S., a five-week pilot programme introduced mindfulness practices to students. For example, at Piedmont Avenue Elementary, a coach led 15-minute sessions twice a week, teaching students techniques like “gentle breaths and still bodies” to help them manage stress and emotions.
Several programmes, such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), developed by Professor Mark Williams and his team at Oxford University’s Department of Psychiatry, have shown that MBCT can significantly reduce the recurrence of serious depression. Research from Oxford’s Centre for Suicide Research found that mindfulness meditation can halve the risk of depression recurrence, with neuroimaging scans revealing significant positive changes in the brain activity of long-term meditators. Additionally, a team from the University of California, Santa Barbara, discovered that even a short, two-week mindfulness course can yield immediate improvements in cognitive function, including higher scores on reasoning and comprehension tests. According to the research team, “cultivating mindfulness is an effective and efficient technique for improving cognitive function, with wide-reaching consequences” (Mrazek et al., Psychological Science).
It is all about paying attention to the purpose of the present moment without making judgments. We are often unaware of what we are doing. This has been extensively discussed in Buddhism as well. Simply in Buddhism, ‘Satipattana’ means to be in the moment at all times. A person should always ‘live in the moment,’ so to speak.
Sri Lanka has a history of practicing Anapanasathi in schools for years. But there is a need for proper mindfulness programmes in the Sri Lankan education system (school to university level). There is no requirement to “import” experts from Western
countries as our system is governed by the teachings of Buddhism. Nevertheless, we can incorporate the success stories and the pedagogy they used to teach students.
This can be applicable to schools as well as to universities in the country.
Conclusion
The initiatives discussed offer a valuable long-term investment for Sri Lanka, providing a way to reduce youth violence and depression early on. By practicing mindfulness, young people can learn to focus on the present, handle difficult situations better, and develop creativity, balance, and resilience in their lives.
Despite having rich cultural values and resources, Sri Lankans often find that these assets are used more effectively by others. Although many are aware of mindfulness, few actively practice it. If we begin to incorporate mindfulness into our daily lives and work, Sri Lanka has the potential to become a nation of lasting peace and prosperity.
Professor Nalin Abeysekera
(The writer is a Professor
in Management Studies ,
Open University
of Sri Lanka and You
can reach Professor
Abeysekera via
nalinabeysekera@gmail.com.)
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