Maharashtra: Mental health-line helps 5,457 in four months

Most callers suffered from insomnia, stress and anxiety, and recovered with just meditation and counselling, say officials

The state officials handling the mental health care service said the Tele MANAS helpline has helped hundreds who needed someone to listen to them. Since the launch in October last year, counsellors have helped an average of 44 people daily, showed the data. Most callers complained of insomnia, stress and anxiety. The state health department had launched the helpline, 14416, keeping in mind the high-stress lifestyle and lack of support to many.

Since October, 5,457 people have called on the number, including 2,667 men and 993 women. According to the data available from the state, around 1,200 people complained about insomnia, 900 said they were feeling disappointed while 850 were under stress. Officials cited multiple reasons for mental illness, like love affairs, monetary issues, family issues, competition and over ambition.

Also read: We need to start talking about mental health

Director of Health Services, state government, Dr Swapnil Lale said, "Most people complain about anxiety and loneliness which is a sign of depression, and insomnia which happens when people over think about some situation. Our counsellors, over the telephone, try to understand the issue affecting the callers and counsel them accordingly. Not every person who is suffering from mental illness needs medication. Many of them recover through meditation and counselling. Very few of the callers were found to have serious mental health issues and needed immediate medical intervention. Our counsellors guide such callers to the nearest hospital for further treatment."

Monica Nikam, project coordinator at Thane Tele MANAS centre, said, "Most of the calls are from people in the age group of 25-35 years or aged above 50. Our counsellors are active 24x7 to provide adequate information and guide them to overcome mental health issues. We get all types of calls, but most of them are related to sleep disorder, depression and anxiety. We have counsellors for every type of mental health illness. On an average, we get 5 to 10 suicidal calls. We counsel the callers and ask them to visit the nearest centre for further treatment."

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