All through the second wave of the pandemic, Sarita* would spend sleepless nights thinking up plans to arrange for resources for herself if she contracted Covid-19. The 29-year-old lived alone and hearing about escalating infections and deaths all around left her deeply upset and anxious. She was among the majority of callers that dialled a BMC-supported helpline to seek help to process feelings and relieve anxiety.
More than 55% of the 30,000 callers that dialled the '
Samvaad' helpline since March 2020 reported anxiety. For some it was triggered by the inability to access support systems during the pandemic. A chunk of callers also reported stress from career reasons (20%) and loneliness from losing loved ones to the pandemic (8%).
Ronald called up the helpline complaining of immense stress from the possibility of losing his job as his workplace had begun downsizing. He is the only earning member of his family and the thought of losing his job was giving him panic attacks. The counsellor aided him with anxiety reduction tools to feel better.
'Samvaad', run by non-profit
Project Mumbai, was launched in May 2020 by chief minister
Uddhav Thackeray for
Maharashtra. But the helpline receives calls from across the country. "Apart from mental health support, we have now started to offer a support line for children who have lost parents to Covid as well as a dedicated service for child sexual abuse. Details are being circulated through district collectors so that non-urban pockets can also avail of it," said
Shishir Joshi, founder of Project Mumbai.
Not only Covid-19, callers sought help for other mental health struggles as well. A lot of calls focused on callers talking about their feelings towards their changing bodies and weight gain. Some callers had relationship concerns as the second wave had taken them by surprise and had put a strain on their relationships.
Akansha*, a 21-year-old, was dealing with a combination of family and peer issues as well as self-esteem concerns when she dialled the helpline. She had developed anxiety and had begun to self-harm. It started with a lesser degree of harm, such as pinching herself whenever she felt sad. Later, the intensity of the harm increased. She started to cut herself, first on parts of her body that nobody could see. The counsellor suggested some alternatives to self-harm and asked her to employ them whenever she felt the urge to cause herself injury.
A 27-year-old woman reached out to the helpline to discuss the trouble in her long-distance relationship which was making her feel incredibly lonely. She mentioned feeling helpless and depressed. After speaking to the counsellor, she said she would like to continue calling whenever she experienced distress.
The helpline is operated by 20 counsellors who hold a minimum of a Master's degree in either clinical or counselling psychology. Around 65% of the counselers can speak, read and write in Marathi, a deliberate attempt, says Joshi, to provide counselling services in the preferred language of the counsellor. Each call is analysed and coded separately, capturing location, call summary, call duration and referrals, while keeping each caller's identity confidential.
(*Names of callers have been changed. Samvaad can be reached at 18001024040 between 8am and 8pm all seven days).