Over 97,000 calls received in two years, with majority related to stress, anxiety, and sleep disturbances
Swapnil R Mishra
As many as per hour six calls related to mental health are being attended by the counsellors on the centralised mental health helpline- TeleManas in Maharashtra since it was launched in October 2022, revealing data provided by the state health department. However, most of the callers are between the age group of 18 to 45 years.
According to the data, in the last two years, 97,352 calls have been initiated at the mental helpline TeleManas, of which 79,200 (81.33%) were users-initiated calls, while only 18,172 calls were TeleManas initiated (18.66%). However, maximum calls were recorded in the Beed district with 34,377 calls, followed by Thane (28,757), Pune (27,096) and Nagpur (7,142).
A senior counsellor from the centre said that most of the calls are due to mood and stress. More than 13,000 calls were related to sad mood, followed by stress (7104), sleep disturbances (7024) and anxiety (5491). “In today’s fast-paced life, everyone is stressed and competing with each other due to which they do not meet the expectation or fail in career or life due to which they lead to mental health issues,” he said.
Considering that stress and mental trauma increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to social isolation or financial hardships, the union government set up a tele-manas helpline in October 2022 to help people connect with counsellors. Maharashtra followed suit by setting up the helpline and manashakti clinics at primary healthcare levels.
Another counsellor at the Thane Tele-MANAS centre said many callers are in the age group of 25-35 years or senior citizens above 50 years. “On average, our counsellors get 35-40 calls per day. They provide adequate information and guidance to dissuade them from taking untoward action,” she said.
Dr Harish Shetty, a city-based psychiatrist, said, “Sleep disturbance is common in all age groups. It affects mental health and counselling is the need of the hour. People have become more reserved due to hectic work schedules and don’t talk to their friends and families, which pushes them into depression and anxiety.”
According to counsellors, the centres also get 5-10 suicidal calls on average. “We counsel and ask them to visit the nearest outpatient department for further treatment. Overthinking about future problems is part of another vicious cycle that is both the cause and effect of anxiety and depression,” he said.
Meanwhile, a survey taken ahead of World Mental Health Day found that attitudes towards mental health and mental wellbeing in India have been gradually evolving with increased awareness and conversations towards reducing the stigma.
State additional director (mental health) Dr Swapnil Lale said nearly 1 per cent of people with mental ailments need medications while most get better with counselling due to which hospitalisation is not an option. “We counsel them and based on their mental health issues they are sent to the nearest centres for further treatment,” he said.
He said the state has evolved a three-tier system to diagnose mental health ailments. “We have a tele-counselling service where people can call up, or doctors manning our health centres who have been trained to detect mental wellbeing can recommend people to seek help,” he said. Those suspected of having mental problems are then referred to the nearest district hospital for a diagnosis and further action such as medication and/or counselling.
