‘Counselling at night needed’

With 1,500 suicide cases registered so far this year, it seems Bangalore is set to retain the tag of ‘Suicide Capital of India’ for another year making it the fourth year in a row.  The tag remains though the number of suicide cases have come down in terms of numbers over the years.

 The city has four dedicated suicide prevention helplines and only one of them is functions round-the-clock.Most of these helplines work with a skeleton staff of three-four employees and they depend largely on volunteers for the rest.

 As a result, they are not able to offer counselling at night, which many experts say, is a crucial time when people call helplines. “Many such do not sleep.  Depressive cognition prevents them from making proper judgments.

 It happens in cases of failed relationships or marital problems,” said Dr Meena of Spandana Hospitals. Their helpline receives 15 calls a day though there is no fixed pattern that they have observed in the times at which these calls may come in.

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The New Indian Express
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