On My Mind: Supporting every adolescent’s mental health with families and care providers
Every child deserves to be heard and supported.
Adolescent mental health is gaining growing attention as an important priority in Bhutan and around the world, recognizing its strong impact on young people’s wellbeing, stronger communities, and a brighter economic future.
Globally, many adolescents experience mental health challenges, creating an important opportunity to strengthen care, support, and early intervention.
Bhutan is stepping forward to respond to this need. Evidence shows that many adolescents experience stress, anxiety, and depression, highlighting the importance of building stronger support systems. At the same time, addressing concerns such as self-harm and substance use presents a chance to provide timely care, guidance, and prevention for young people.
School data further show that adolescents can feel overwhelmed during intense emotional moments, underscoring the importance of creating safe spaces, early support, and open conversations about mental health.
There is strong reason for optimism.
A majority of adolescents, around 80 per cent report having strong family support. This highlights the powerful role that parents and caregivers can play in nurturing resilience, understanding, and emotional wellbeing.
Bhutan also has a clear path forward. National policies, including the National Mental Health Strategy (2025), emphasise expanding awareness, prevention, and access to quality services under the leadership of the PEMA Secretariat.
At the same time, growing evidence helps guide more effective support, recognizing that girls and boys may face different challenges and benefit from tailored approaches.
Together, these strengths - strong families, clear national commitment, and growing awareness - create a solid foundation to better support adolescent mental health and wellbeing across Bhutan.
What's on your mind?
The “OnMyMind” campaign is a timely opportunity to strengthen adolescent mental health in Bhutan. It builds on national priorities and brings together adolescents, families, and service providers to create a strong support system.
At its core, the campaign empowers adolescents with the skills and confidence to understand and express their emotions. This will be done through the Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) programme, which supports young people aged 10 -19 to build resilience, manage emotions, and protect their mental health. Delivered through school counsellors and wellbeing focal persons, HAT uses locally adapted tools such as the Magnificent Meto and Friend comic book, along with teacher and caregiver guides to create safe environments, strengthen relationships, and encourage positive support systems.
The campaign also builds on Bhutan’s strong family values by engaging parents and caregivers to listen with empathy, communicate openly, and support adolescents at home.
At the same time, it strengthens the role of teachers, counsellors, and health workers, helping them to recognise early signs of distress, provide care, and connect adolescents to the right services.
Together, these efforts create a more supportive and connected environment, so every adolescent feels understood, supported, and able to thrive.