TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: First, the fear of impending exams, then the fear of impending results. Harried students in the city are increasingly reaching out to suicide helplines and psychiatrists who have been fielding more phone calls than usual over the last two months.
Aparna Adhikari, manager at Suicide Helpdesk, said, “The number of calls to us has shot up to 60 from the usual 40 per week.” Roshni, a volunteer-manned helpline, has seen a far more dramatic increase from one call to over 14 calls per week in the past few months. Ananda, a volunteer at Roshni, said, “As the SSC results are due, we expect more calls in the next 48 hours.”
The helpdesks usually offer reassurance to the students or even try distracting them by discussing non-academic interests they could nurture.
A city psychiatrist said that students should be encouraged to take part in activities such as music or dance, keeping their interests in mind to ensure that they not slip into depression.
Some students have also started seeking formal counselling through psychiatrists. Dr Kalpana G Sringar, a psychiatrist at Indira Health Home, said the number of students calling for help has gone up by approximately 50 per cent.” She, however, added that so far the number of dire cases this year is actually lower compared to that last year.
Sringar added that a main cause of a students’ depression is the fear that they cannot fulfil parental expectations and that they would fail in the exams. The difference of opinion between parents and children on the child’s future aggravates the problem.
Help Is Just A Call Away
Roshni : 66202000 Suicide Helpdesk : 46004600
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