Suicide-related calls to helplines rise by 50 per cent amid Covid pandemic

The ongoing Covid pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of people. Mental health helplines have reported a 50 per cent rise in suicide-related calls.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of people. Financial loss, prolonged isolation, deaths of loved ones and other stressors have piled up, pushing many towards depression. Several mental health helpline numbers have recorded an almost 50% rise in the number of calls regarding suicidal thoughts.

Financial loss, prolonged isolation, deaths of loved ones are among some of the stressors during Covid pandemic which are pushing people into depression, thoughts of suicide, say helplines (For representation only.)

In 2018, a 27-year-old from Nagpur took a loan of ₹25 lakh from a local money lender to start a hotel. Business was booming and he was planning to expand it further, but then the pandemic hit in March 2020. The nationwide lockdown forced shut several businesses, including hotels and restaurants.

To make matters worse, his 51-year-old father contracted Covid-19 in March this year and the cost of treatment led to added debt. The burden slowly pushed him into depression. “He stopped talking to me and kept his phone switched off most of the time. Every time someone knocked at the door, he thought money lenders were there to harass us. Out of the blue on March 12 I received a call from police saying they had found my husband’s body by the railway tracks,” said his 25-year-old wife, who is currently nine months pregnant and is undergoing psychiatric counselling.

Her brother has started an online campaign to raise money to help her pay the pending ₹22 lakh of the loan. “I have no money to pay the money lender. I have already sold off my jewellery. I have no savings for my child’s future,” she said.

This is not an isolated case where family members are left devastated following the death of their loved ones, especially the primary breadwinners. Several studies have mentioned “Covid-19 Blues” where youths have started showing suicidal tendencies post the Covid-19 outbreak.

Though no cumulative data is available, mental health helpline numbers have recorded almost 50% rise in calls related to suicide amid the pandemic compared to the previous years.

Aditya Birla Education Trust-run toll-free helpline number — 1800-120-820050 — named Mpower is getting around three-four calls related to suicide every week. “This has been a vulnerable time for people, both on personal and professional fronts. The cumulative number of calls surged by almost 50% compared to last year. Callers with suicidal thoughts complain of several issues such as break-ups, domestic conflicts, stress related to careers, financial issues,” said Dilshad Khurana, psychologist and head counsellor of the helpline.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) helpline HitGuj has received more than 3,500 calls so far this year. The helpline number — 2413 1212 — used to get one or two calls related to suicide daily, which increased to four-five every day since the outbreak in March 2020.

Dr Ajita S Nayak, head of the psychiatry department at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital who is in-charge of the helpline, said, “When the pandemic started, people thought it would get over soon. But now, after 18 months of the pandemic, no one knows when it will end. So, anxiety levels have increased. People are struggling with financial constraints, students with education loans are not getting jobs, people have lost their savings in the treatment of their family members...there are too many mental fatigues among people.”

Dr Harish Shetty, a psychiatrist with Hinduja Hospital, also highlighted that many elderly with chronic medical conditions, who live alone, are suffering from loneliness and fear of contracting Covid-19, which pushes them into depression.

“Many breadwinners have lost their jobs and are struggling to support their families. In fact, couples with pre-existing marital discord are witnessing intimate partner violence. In the near future, mental health will be the biggest health crisis,” he said.

With the local trains open up, many are also facing travel anxiety triggered by transit amid the pandemic. “This happens when people overestimate worst case scenarios, anticipating that the worst incident may happen to them or their family. The only way to look over anxiety is to distinguish between real risk and over-estimated catastrophising,” said Dr Sahir Jamati, consultant psychologist and psychotherapist, Masina Hospital.