Breaking the silence: Bangladesh schools act on mental health through WHO’s LIVE LIFE initiative

Every morning, Amina*, a grade 10 student at Baliadanga Islamic Girls’ High School in Chapainawabganj District, Rajshahi Division, walked to school carrying worries she rarely shared. Like many adolescents in her community, she struggled with pressures she felt unable to explain. She believed she simply had to endure them, and that having mental health problems meant someone was "crazy". Asking for help never seemed like an option.

Today, her story is different. “I learned that I should not simply be scared,” Amina says. “I need to speak out. Now my friends and I share our feelings, and we also talk to our teachers.”

Her school is one of several participating in the pilot implementation of WHO's LIVE LIFE framework for suicide prevention. For Amina, learning about mental health did more than change her understanding. It gave her the confidence to seek support, and the reassurance that someone would listen.

^{Mst Jayeda Khatun and grade 10 students at Baliadanga Islamic Girls High School in Chapainawabganj (WHO/Abdul Mannan)}

In Bangladesh, mental health remains one of the most pressing yet least recognized public health challenges. Nearly one in five adults and more than one in 10 children live with a mental disorder. More than 90% of those who need care do not receive treatment.

To address the issue, in 2025 Bangladesh began implementing WHO’s LIVE LIFE framework, which promotes evidence-based approaches to suicide prevention. Key interventions include limiting access to the means of suicide, improving media reporting of suicide, enhancing early identification and support for people at risk, and building stronger national systems for suicide prevention.

For young people, a core component of the LIVE LIFE approach is fostering Socio-Emotional Life Skills (SEL). To facilitate this, in four districts with high numbers of suicides and suicide attempts – Chapainawabganj, Jashore, Jhenaidah and Sylhet – teachers have been trained to integrate short discussions on mental health into everyday school life. Students learn practical skills to cope with stress, recognize emotional distress and suicidal thoughts, support classmates and know when and where to seek professional help.

A trusted person to turn to

“Most of our students come from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds,” explains Md Monir Ahsan, the headteacher of Baliadanga Islamic Girls’ High School. “Many experience pressures at home, while girls often face harassment on their way to school.  Adolescence is already a difficult period, and many students felt they had nobody they could talk to.”

Fear of being misunderstood, or of creating further difficulties for their families, often prevented students from speaking openly about the challenges they faced. “Before, the solution was not to share with anybody,” the headteacher recalls. “Now, they know they can come to us.”

^{Md Monir Ahsan, headteacher of Baliadanga Islamic Girls’ High School. (WHO/Abdul Mannan)}

The programme has also helped challenge long-standing misconceptions about mental health. “The training helped us understand that mental health affects everyone,” says Mst Jayeda Khatun, Amina’s teacher. “We now share this knowledge with our students and other teachers.”

Importantly, it has also strengthened peer support. “If I see that one of my classmates is not feeling well, I never leave her alone,” Amina says. “I ask how she is feeling. If talking is not enough, we go together to the teachers or parents.”

Aisha**, another grade 10 student, adds, “If anyone feels sad or alone, I communicate with them and approach them gently. People often make bad decisions because they do not talk. I encourage everybody to share if there is any problem.”

To date, WHO has helped train 488 teachers in selected districts on the SEL module, including 40 master trainers through a training-of-trainers approach. Experience from participating schools will inform further refinement and scale-up, with the possibility of expanding the programme into other districts.

“Young people should not have to reach a crisis before they feel able to ask for help. Schools can help create an environment where students feel safe to speak, know who they can turn to and are supported early,” says Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, WHO Representative to Bangladesh. “Together, let us build on these lessons and explore how the WHO LIVE LIFE approach can reach more young people.”

Next steps will focus on strengthening capacity, engaging government counterparts on options for wider implementation and assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of the approach.

For Md Monir Ahsan, the school’s headteacher, the programme’s greatest success is measured not by the number of people trained, but by the change he sees in his students.

“Before, students never shared anything,” Md Monir Ahsan says. “Now they come without fear. After talking, you can very clearly see the difference. They feel safer.”

For the student who once believed she had to stay silent, that change is personal.

“I encourage everyone not to hide their problems,” Amina says. “Talk to your friends. Talk to your teachers.”

At Baliadanga Islamic Girls’ High School, change is happening – one conversation at a time.

*Name has been changed
**Name has been changed