Disappointment, stress, sleep disturbances, anxiousness, and household conflicts. These are among the many key points over which callers are in search of assistance on Maharashtra’ s psychological well being helpline quantity: 14416.
Ever since its launch in October 2022, the psychological well being helpline has obtained 97,372 calls.
As part of the Nationwide Psychological Well being Programme, Tele Psychological Well being Help and Networking Throughout States (Tele-MANAS) toll-free helpline was launched throughout India.
In Maharashtra, the helpline is established throughout 4 centres: Pune, Nagpur, Beed, and Thane.
Every centre is staffed with round 20 counsellors devoted to helping callers. These counselors possess {qualifications} in counseling or social work. It has to this point obtained, on a median, 267 calls per day, in line with information launched by the state well being division on World Psychological Well being Day.
Among the many prevalent complaints, disappointment of temper was essentially the most reported concern, with 13,274 calls.
Stress-related considerations adopted carefully, reflecting excessive stress ranges amongst people. Nervousness and sleep disturbances have been additionally generally reported. Extra considerations included lowered sleep and numerous psychological points.
Different notable complaints concerned aggression or danger of hurt to others, relationship conflicts, and emotions of hopelessness or worthlessness. Calls associated to substance use and habit have been additionally frequent, together with medical points.
Roughly 88.41 per cent of the calls have been routine, information-related inquiries comprised 6.57 per cent of the calls, whereas prank calls accounted for 3.83 per cent. Emergency calls represented 1.19 per cent, highlighting the necessity for fast intervention.
Dr. Swapnil Lale, Extra Director of Well being Providers in Maharashtra, said, “We’ve got noticed that almost all of calls come from people aged 18 to 45 years, with 60 per cent of the callers being male. This distinction in name quantity between women and men displays various psychological well being challenges and social elements that will affect their willingness to hunt assist.”
A regarding development has emerged, with 1.3 per cent of callers aged 0-12 years, suggesting that even youngsters are grappling with emotional difficulties.
“Adolescents usually attain out to psychological well being helplines for numerous causes, together with emotional misery, stress from educational pressures, and struggles with identification. Household conflicts, experiences of bullying, substance use points, and psychological well being problems additionally immediate them to hunt assist,” Dr. Lale added.
Counsellors ceaselessly obtain calls from college college students experiencing exam-related stress, uncertainty about profession decisions, and anxiousness over admission failures.
“Coping with youngsters might be difficult, as they’re usually delicate and reluctant to share private particulars like names or addresses,” famous a counsellor.
Many callers mistakenly interpret palpitations attributable to anxiousness as indicators of a coronary heart assault. “In emergency calls, we give attention to calming them down to forestall any dangerous actions. Every district hospital has ten beds accessible for these in want, and we encourage them to go to a close-by facility,” the counsellor defined.
Psychological well being points usually are not confined to prosperous adults. Stigma continues to discourage many from visiting psychiatrists.
“Nevertheless, by way of these telephonic conversations, they’ll search assist. Most often, callers don’t require treatment; easy way of life adjustments like weight loss plan, train, and meditation are sometimes ample. In additional extreme circumstances, we suggest consulting a physician. We’ve got additionally made psychiatrists accessible at main well being facilities for consultations,” Dr. Lale concluded.
