and commerce in 201819 was 151 and in 202021 it rose to 209 psychology has always been one of the soughtout programmes among the arts subjects it offers excellent career opportunities which include private practice the clinical work in industry schools and sports the covid19 pandemic led to prolonged exposure to stress across populations and psychological support became the need of the hour the fading stigma associated with visiting mental health professionals is also leading to an increase in interest among students says anita kanwar principal vivekanand education societys college of arts science and commerce mumbaistudents not only want to equip themselves to deal with their own mental challenges but they also wish to provide support to friends and other close people dr gitanjali natarajan professor hod department of clinical psychology amrita institute of medical sciences says a recent trend is that highly meritorious students are also choosing to study psychology unlike earlier when they opted for professional courses such as medicine engineering or law there is an increasing focus and interest in understanding the mind and the functioning of the brain young people are also exposed to unlimited information about mental health and psychological phenomena through the internet they are much more aware of mental health problems such as anxiety depression personality difficulties and addictions than earlier generations