Stress taking its toll on youngsters: Experts

Kolkata - A day after West Bengal saw two youngsters killing themselves and another slashing his ex-lover on Valentine's Day, psychologists Wednesday said stress, nuclear families and lack of communication with parents were affecting young adults.

"Actually, most of the families are nuclear families with both the parents working, so there is a tendency among the teenage boys and girls to cling to someone. And if they are rejected, then they opt for the extreme step," said Shika Dey, a consultant psychologist.

Dey added that teenagers were unable to share their emotions with their parents and were over-impulsive, which in turn makes them unable to control their frustration.

Valentine's Day was marred by incidents of violence in the state Tuesday.

Distressed over a failed relationship, a 22-year-old girl committed suicide by jumping on to the railway tracks from a bridge at Howrah station.

A 28-year-old spurned lover here tried to scar his 19-year-old former girlfriend's face with a blade, but she escaped with a slashed arm.

In the third incident, a girl studying in Class 10 in Murshidabad district consumed poison after her father snatched away her mobile phone as she was having an affair with one of her class mates.

"The emotional bondage between parents and kids has decreased to a large extent. There is a communication gap between them. So, the kids are unable to understand that the parents can never do any harm to their offspring," psychologist Dola Majumdar said.

Another city doctor blamed the "unnecessary hype" over Valentine's Day.

"Most of the time, teenagers want to do something which is remarkable and out of the book. This tendency is leading them to do negative things," said Suvarna Sen.