DAVANGERE/CHITRADURGA: The COVID-19 lockdown has affected the mental health of many who are unaccustomed to spending the entire day indoors for weeks together.
It has increased levels of anxiety, fearfulness, restlessness, stress, sleep disturbances, substance abuse, obsessive compulsive disorders, irrelevant thoughts and so on. To overcome this, the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has decided to provide free tele-counselling round the clock.
Speaking exclusively to The New Indian Express, Honorary Secretary of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) Dr T S Satyanarayan Rao said, "The country is witnessing an unusual situation for the first time due to the lockdown. The public is almost entirely confined to their homes, which has led to psychological pressure and it needs to be eased. Hence the IPS has taken this initiative."
He went on to say, "The media including television, web and print has been doing a good job of educating the public but social media is also pouring in news which might not be authentic. This has also led to the increase in anxiety levels, especially among those who are going through high stress. This may possibly make them have suicidal thoughts, so they have to be counselled," he added.
"People who are dependent on alcohol and drugs are developing withdrawal symptoms which is well documented. They too need to be counselled properly or else they may start thinking negatively. This is where our volunteers come into the picture," he noted.
Thanking members of the IPS for their overwhelming co-operation and coming forward to volunteer counselling for the needy, he said the names of more than 700 psychiatrists, their phone numbers, place of work and the most convenient time to contact them have been published. Moreover, many zonal and state branches of the IPS have come forward with additional names.
Dr Rao said all office bearers and executive members of the IPS are available for online consultation or help round the clock. Also, many psychiatrists at Sholapur in Maharashtra have started counselling their patients in Kannada as the region has a large Kannada speaking population.
Psychiatrists volunteering for tele-counselling along with their time schedule
Dr Sachin (Dharwad) 9880942288 and Dr Srikala Bharath (Bangalore): 98454 08981 at 8-30 to 10 AM
Dr R S Deepak (Chitradurga)- 9353051686 and Dr Preethi Pai (Shivamogga) 9480838072 from 10 to 11-30 AM
Dr Gopal Das (Chitradurga) 9008908206 and Dr Ruth Sneha (Kolar) 9902987140 from 11-30 AM to 1 PM
Dr Lokesh Babu (Tumkur) 9740707779 and Dr Abhay Matkar(Hubli) 9448450565 1 to 2-30 PM
Dr Alok Ghanate (Kalaburagi)-9241177535 from 2-30 to 4 PM
Dr Sanjay Raj (Tumkur) 9886979089 and Dr Krishna Mysore (Mysore) 94802 92590 from 4 to 5-30 PM
Dr Mruthunjaya (Davanagere) 9739238788 and Dr Aravind ST (Shivamogga) 9620803715 from 5-30 to 7PM
Dr Sharanya Devanathan (Bangalore) 9663677709 can be contacted from 7 to 8-30 PM
Dr Suresh VC 9886125758 9AM to 12 PM; Dr Prashanth B 9743372267 4 to 6 PM
Dr Swaminath 9845007121 6 to 8 PM
Dr Kalyan Sundaram 9844030703 (Anytime)
Dr Sandip Deshpande 9535579435 3 to 5 PM
Dr Sunil Patil 9845219324 8 to 10 PM
Dr Shashidhar Bilagi 9886261010 10 PM to 12 AM; Dr H R Aravinda Prabhu 9590299718 5 to 7 PM