PANAJI
Teenagers, young and middle-aged adults from 18 to 40 years are the most frequent callers to the government's mental health tele-service helpline ‘Tele Manas’ introduced in mid-2023 and depression was their most common complaint, analysis of data of the first year of its operation has revealed.
Nearly a third of the 12,350 calls made since May 2023 were complaints related to depression, according to Dr Sneha Pokle.
Also, a whopping 70.9 per cent of the calls made to this tele-service are by young people in the age group of 18 to 45 years.
Issues and stress in connection with personal relationships was the next highest reason cited by callers.
In most cases the callers where counselled over the phone itself but many a times, depending on the need, they were met physically and counselled, Dr Pokle said.
Other reasons cited by callers included worry and anxiety (12.71 per cent) and another 9.89 per cent were related children's problems, women and aged people.
Sleep related issues were the trigger for up to 7.63 per cent of callers to seek help.
According to Dr Pokle, people going through stress or any other mental health issue, should not shy away from seeking help and treat it as a medical problem of the same severity as any other health emergency.
It is necessary to go to counsellors for mental health problems. It is normal to have mental health problems which should not be concealed, she added.
She said, problems in private or professional life, a major mental shock, domestic or family disputes can all lead to severe depression and also to other physical ailments.
Getting over the misconceptions and the worry of social stigma is crucial and getting help is now just a phone call through 'Tele Manas' service, Dr Pokle said.
