BENGALURU: Helplines and teleconsultations set up by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) have proven beneficial in identifying and treating tobacco and other addictions among rural populations.
Maria Auxilia, counsellor, Quit Tobacco Helpline at NIMHANS, said, “People in rural areas often get curious seeing the helpline numbers on cigarette packets and other tobacco products. They initiate conversations on their habits. It is seen that they are making efforts to stop consuming tobacco.” Since people living in rural areas do not get easy access to mental health professionals, these free helplines have helped them.
Another service under NIMHANS, Service for Healthy Use of Technology, also recently started a detox helpline to provide consultations to people suffering from technology addiction. Pranjali Chakraborty Thakur, a PhD scholar, said the helpline, started two months ago, is helping many who got addicted to technology during Covid.
“A lot of students call us. Also, many worried parents want to understand whether their children are addicted to gadgets. Counsellors guide the patients and help them balance their use of technology as it is not practical to completely eliminate the use of gadgets,” she explained.
The Centre also launched Tele-MANAS (Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States) portal, a 24/7 service, in October 2021. Dr Rahul P, assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, said over 1,000 calls have been attended to and 50 per cent of them were from rural areas.