New Delhi: Growing public discussion around mental health has not necessarily translated into young people seeking professional support when they experience emotional distress, according to findings from the 2026 Mpower survey of young adults across 10 Indian cities. The survey found that 49.5 per cent of respondents said they dealt with difficult emotions on their own, while only 9.2 per cent said they had sought professional help or guidance during an emotionally difficult period.
The survey, titled Unpack Your Emotional Baggage, covered 1,203 young adults aged 18 to 25 in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad, Chennai and Jaipur. Its findings focus on how young people experience emotional stress, how they respond to it and what prevents them from seeking support.
One of the clearest findings is the gap between recognising emotional difficulty and talking about it. The survey reported that 40.9 per cent of respondents said they tell others they are fine even when they are not. Another 40.4 per cent said they smile to avoid questions, while 32 per cent said they pretend nothing is wrong. About 37.6 per cent said they avoid discussing their feelings altogether.
These responses point to a problem that is different from simply having limited awareness about mental health. A young person may know that counselling exists, understand that emotional distress deserves attention and still choose not to seek help because of embarrassment, fear of being judged or a belief that the problem should be handled privately.
The survey also examined the responses young people receive when they do show signs of distress. The findings indicate that dismissive reactions can discourage further disclosure. For some young people, being told to be strong or to simply move on can reinforce the idea that asking for help is a sign of weakness.
The result is that emotional difficulties can remain hidden even in environments where mental health is discussed more openly than it was in previous generations. Schools, colleges, workplaces and families may therefore face a different challenge: recognising distress when a young person is not openly asking for help.
The findings are particularly relevant to educational institutions. Young adulthood often combines academic pressure, career uncertainty, changing relationships, financial concerns and the pressure to establish an identity. These pressures do not affect every young person in the same way, but they can become difficult to manage when there is little space for honest conversation.
The survey does not establish that every young person who avoids professional help requires clinical treatment. Nor does it establish a single reason for the low rate of professional help-seeking. It instead highlights a pattern of private coping and reluctance to discuss emotional difficulties.
For institutions, that distinction matters. A counselling service may exist on campus, but its availability alone does not guarantee that students will use it. Young people also need to know that approaching a counsellor or another trusted professional does not automatically mean that they have been labelled or diagnosed with a mental-health condition.
The survey’s findings also underline the importance of early conversations. If young people routinely hide distress until it becomes severe, families and institutions may have fewer opportunities to offer support at an earlier stage.
Mpower’s findings are based on a specific sample of young adults in 10 cities and should not be treated as a complete picture of every young person in India. But the figures provide a useful indication of the gap between increasing discussion of mental health and actual help-seeking among the group surveyed.
