Silent Screams in the Answer Sheet: Understanding Exam Stress-Induced Suicides Among Indian Students and Exploring AI-Driven Early Intervention Tools

Silent Screams in the Answer Sheet: Understanding Exam Stress-Induced Suicides Among Indian Students and Exploring AI-Driven Early Intervention Tools examines the growing crisis of exam-related stress and suicides among Indian adolescents, where academic pressure has become a major public health concern. Drawing on National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, psychological studies, and firsthand experiences from educational hubs like Kota, this paper explores how competitive exams such as JEE and NEET create extreme psychological strain among teens. It also introduces a lightweight, privacy-preserving AI prototype built in Python that analyzes short text inputs (diary notes, chats, etc.) to flag potential indicators of stress or suicidal ideation with 70–78% accuracy using sentiment analysis and keyword detection. The study emphasizes AI as a preventive mental health ally, not a replacement for human care, proposing collaboration between schools, counselors, and technologists to enable early intervention—especially in rural and semi-urban India. Ethical and cultural considerations are addressed, ensuring respect for privacy, linguistic diversity (English/Hindi), and non-stigmatizing approaches. Keywords: exam stress, student suicides, AI in mental health, NLP, education technology, India, suicide prevention, stress detection Authors: Sai ithihas, Dr. Srujana Joga (MBBS, DNB, DrNB) License: CC BY 4.0 (Attribution – reuse permitted with credit) Code: The open-source prototype (Python-based) is designed for educational and NGO use; accessible on request or linked repository.