The Health Department of Rajasthan has embarked on a new campaign to enhance awareness and recognition of mental health among students. Textbooks of Rajasthan State Board have published over 95 Lakh books with the helpline numbers of Tele-Manas.
What is Tele-Manas?
It is an initiative of the National Tele Mental Health Programme. The country has 51 Tele-Manas cells with the feature of support through multiple languages. 14417 and 18008914416 are available as the helpline numbers. Tele-Manas has proven to be one of the most successful campaigns for Mental Health nationwide.
The objective: For this campaign, the idea originated from the fact that cases of depression and suicide have increased consistently over the past decade. It is now high time to act for it and save young children from falling into the dark hole of mental illnesses.
Read More: Tele MANAS Records Highest Calls for Sleep Disorder Help
How will it help?
Many of the children and teenagers face issues with emotional regulation. Since mental health is still a stigma in society, awareness through educational curriculam is almost non-existent. Parents and other caregivers like teachers may or may not be ready enough to see their child struggling with mental well-being.
This can cause children and teenagers to be confined within the fences of emotional turmoil going on within themselves. Unlike adults, children and even teenagers are quite clueless when they have not heard about the essence of mental health. They might feel helpless regarding their health. The act of expression in such a state of mind is extremely difficult where giving a thought to our emotions seems to be too confusing. With a prolonged effect on mental health, a child, especially a teen can develop characteristics of suicidal ideations.
What will a number do? In times of crisis, when a child is not able to seek or speak about his struggle, a phone number printed on the book opened before him can be the best solution
Professional intervention: Getting professional support is quite difficult if the taboo of mental illness is persistent with parents and family. Most teenagers get stuck in the loop of stereotypes unable to reach the right therapeutic help that they need help with.
Aligning features: What makes Tele-Mansa a good fit for the student population is its attributes that directly solve the most prominent obstacles in receiving good mental health care.
Accessibility
At a young age, it is difficult to comprehend what are we feeling with the mental disruption, coming out and asking for help looks like a much farther shot. Even when a child tries to confront his state of mind, it is indeed difficult for parents as well to accept it. Getting the right support through psychotherapists is a step that is often not taken. With the Tele-Manas helpline numbers, the child can reach out for the help that he aptly requires.
Being a toll-free number without any need to go to a centre or clinic exponentially increases the possibility of a child seeking help. This affordability magnificently contributes to accessibility since children and teenagers can feel emotionally distant.
Immediate help for crisis
In a state of suicidal ideation and extreme mental turmoil, a child or a teen may feel clueless. Having a helpline number handy can save lives. Even the Tele-Manas follow-up feature where they get back to the callers to understand how they are doing later can be a great way to maintain and combat the struggle of mental illness.
In conclusion, the Tele-Manas feature can be magnificently useful not only in Rajasthan but across the nation. Even with adequate mental health, awareness regarding this can be helpful for people who are trying to help their friends and family in dealing with struggles of mental health.
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