Hirra Azmat
Srinagar: The person on the phone is desperate. The caller is struggling to get over her father’s sudden death due to a heart attack. She thinks her life has been rendered meaningless and her existence is futile.
Crisis counselor at Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) cell at the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Srinagar (IMHANS) murmurs and reassures her, gently tries to divert her mind from negative thoughts:
“What are some things that have brought you joy? Do you have any happy memories of your Dad? Do you remember any occasion where he encouraged you when you had suddenly lost all hope?” The caller slowly begins to open up and the call lasts for an hour. As the call ends, the counselor reminds her of a follow-up call the next day.
The Tele-MANAS cell at IMHANS was launched on November 4 with the support of the National Health Mission, Jammu and Kashmir. It aims to provide mental health support, early screening, first-aid, distress management, mental well-being, suicide prevention, and psychological crisis management in Jammu and Kashmir.
The center operates through a toll free-number—11416/1-800-891-4416. The crisis counselors or the first-time responders are the first point of contact for callers at the 24*7 helpline. Their job is to attend calls, conduct a preliminary assessment of the caller’s problems, and if required transfer the call to the psychiatrist or senior clinical psychologists.
Professor of Psychiatry at IMHANS, Dr. Arshid Hussain said the central government has initiated tele-mental health services across 22 centers in India.
“This is done to lessen the gap between mental health needs and services and make mental health services more accessible and acceptable to the masses. So far only a few centers have become functional and fortunately, our center is among them,” said Dr. Arshaid, who is heading the Tele-MANAS cell.
He said the idea to set up a tele-mode in psychiatry was conceived in 2018. “We sent a project proposal to NHM after conducting a mental health survey. The survey indicated that there is a large gap between people with mental issues and those who seek help. It suggested that only 10 percent of the population in Kashmir avail mental health assistance. However, we didn’t have a budget at that time and we just set up a suicide helpline for achieving pause and subsequent mental health referral. This time NRHM provided us with all logistic and manpower support making this project possible,” Dr. Arshid said.
He said they are currently operating through audio mode. “In six months, we will shift to the visual mode where the patients can have a face-to-face interaction with the mental health experts.”
Dr. Arshid stressed that tele-mental services will be of great help to people living particularly in remote areas like Gurez, Ladakh, Leh, Doda, and Karnah. “These places are usually inaccessible for months together due to heavy snowfall. In such a scenario, imagine if someone develops psychosis and is not able to get any help. Here the tele-mental service has a great role to play. Not only will the patient get immediate help, but it will also motivate him to take further steps for a proper mental health evaluation,” he said.
The center is currently handled by 20 first-time responders, five psychiatrists, and two IT experts. Besides, the identity and details of the callers remain confidential. “The recruitment process for clinical psychologists is on and we will fill the vacancies soon,” he said.
Dr. Arshid said that they received around 100 calls in the last few days. “The number has seen a surge. We are all braced up to help the patients in distress.”
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