- Mental Health Helpline launched for Madurai by MS Chellamathu Trust and HCL Foundation
- 40 trained counselors recruited to attend calls between 9 AM and 6 PM
- Support to students suffering from mental health illnesses
THD NewsDesk, Tamil Nadu: On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, MS Chellamathu Trust and Research Foundation, in partnership with HCL Foundation, launched a Mental Health Helpline to assist the people of Madurai in navigating mental health. Madurai corporation assisted the project Speak2Us, envisioned to prioritize mental health.
‘Speak 2 Us’ helpline (93754 93754) is an excellent initiative for helping people deal with mental health illness more healthily. Often, people succumb to their negative thoughts in the absence of emotional support from peers and family and feel forced to take extreme steps.
“People should make use of the helpline when they feel distressed. Suicidal tendency comes when the mind is at a weak point. A brief talk to someone can bring about change in the mindset. The helpline number will be very useful,” said Minister for revenue and disaster management R B Udayakumar at the inauguration ceremony.
He further emphasized on the impact of one’s mental state on their level of productivity. Expressing concern regarding the poor state of mental health infrastructure in India, he lauded the Speak2Us initiative for starting a conversation on mental health in and around Madurai.
“When one becomes distressed, one should open it up to release the pent up emotions. Institutional support to ‘Speak 2 Us’ will help address the emotional issues faced by people,” said Madurai District Collector T G Vinay, encouraging people to live their life stress freely.
This collaborative project’s prime focus is students, mostly from government schools, who have to deal with overwhelming academic pressure that sometimes takes a toll on them. Earlier too, both the companies have shown their dedication towards making taking the conversation on mental health to students by starting the initiative Happy schooling. Commendably, the mental well-being program has enhanced the life experiences of students. Under the scheme, HCL Foundation has already installed Robotic labs at five schools and plans to implement the same model in 10 more schools.
Forty trained counselors have been appointed to attend distress calls, which will be available between 9 AM – 6 PM so far. The authorities are striving to make the service available round-the-clock to be as beneficial to people suffering from mental health issues as possible.
Founder of MS Chellamuthu Trust Dr. C Ramasubramanian, Director of Speak2Us Nandini Murali, Chief Educational officer R Swaminathan and Corporation Educational officer P Vijaya graced the inauguration with their presence.
According to the latest NCRB data of 2019, 381 Indian citizens die by suicide daily on an average. People battling with mental illnesses regularly engage in self-harm and suicidal thoughts. According to the NCRB statistics, the prime causes are family and marriage-related problems, physical ailments, and economic issues. Moreover, the World Health Organisation has categorized suicide as a severe public “health problem.” However, WHO states that such unfortunate incidents can be easily prevented with timely and affordable interventions.
