BHUBANESWAR: Amid rise in suicides in the state, Manam Foundation has partnered with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to train volunteers in ‘barefoot counselling’ for prevention of incidents of self-harm.
Manam, an NGO offering mental health services, said barefoot counselling refers to a practical, hands-on approach to provide psycho-social support and psychological first aid within a community. The barefoot counsellors are not necessarily qualified mental health professionals but can provide accessible initial support and guidance to peers, colleagues, students or community members experiencing stress or mental health challenges. The organisation plans to train at least 10,000 barefoot counsellors in a year.
Manam founder and director Anuradha Mahapatra said the need of the hour is to create awareness on how to identify symptoms of mental health, enhance the network of support system and generate more channels of conversation and communication. “There should be more psychoeducation to identify various mental health symptoms. This can be done by creating a cadre of barefoot counsellors in all groups, irrespective of class, age and gender, so that they are able to identify changes in emotions, thoughts, and behaviour of the individuals in their surroundings,” she said.
Mahapatra said they aim to create one barefoot counsellor for at least 50 people. The counsellors will build an ecosystem where they will identify people in distress and foster a culture of conversation with them.
Mahapatra said apart from trained volunteers, citizens can also help to prevent incidents of suicides by acting more responsibly. “Every citizen should act responsibly before sharing any sensitive content on social media as by doing this they are penetrating into vulnerable groups of the society. Once a mentally unstable individual comes across any particular method of suicide, they too tend to end their lives in a similar way,” she added.