PUNE: On the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, psychiatrists and counsellors across the city have said that there has been a surge in stress and anxiety among a lot of people due to the ongoing pandemic and that with many families losing their loved ones during the second wave, the grief and mental trauma caused can lead to more mental health issues.
Dr Haritha S Kumar, resident, department of psychiatry, Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial hospital, said that there is a lot of uncertainty associated with the ongoing pandemic as to how long it will last or whether the virus will infect loved ones or worse still, near and dear ones will die from it. “The deaths, economic regression and curbs on social interaction have affected people’s mental health and led to an increase in anxiety, stress and depression. However, suicide can be prevented in many ways,” Dr Kumar said.
On a personal level, getting enough rest, eating regular meals and staying hydrated, connecting with family and friends, discussing problems with someone trustworthy, indulging in relaxing activities and exercising regularly all help in improving one’s mental health, she said. “Also, set short‐term goals and act on them. As a result of keeping the mind and body active and occupied, there is less time to dwell on fears and worries,” she advised.
About the need to create more awareness regarding suicide prevention, especially during the pandemic, Arnavaz Damania, founder of Connecting Trust, an NGO working to create awareness against suicide, said that suicide survivors face negatives such as stigma, discrimination and medico-legal inquiries. “During the pandemic, stress, anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts/deaths were on the rise which reflected in calls and emails. Our distress helpline volunteers responded to 2,427 calls and 717 emails between April 2020 and March 2021. Our survivor support programme is actually a field programme where our volunteers, through hospital and community visits, meet suicide survivors and provide them with emotional support. Looking at the situation during the pandemic, we took our survivor support programme telephonically from Sept 2020 to reach out to suicide survivors and managed to reach 69 survivors just within seven months till March 2021,” said Damania.
{{/usCountry}}About the need to create more awareness regarding suicide prevention, especially during the pandemic, Arnavaz Damania, founder of Connecting Trust, an NGO working to create awareness against suicide, said that suicide survivors face negatives such as stigma, discrimination and medico-legal inquiries. “During the pandemic, stress, anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts/deaths were on the rise which reflected in calls and emails. Our distress helpline volunteers responded to 2,427 calls and 717 emails between April 2020 and March 2021. Our survivor support programme is actually a field programme where our volunteers, through hospital and community visits, meet suicide survivors and provide them with emotional support. Looking at the situation during the pandemic, we took our survivor support programme telephonically from Sept 2020 to reach out to suicide survivors and managed to reach 69 survivors just within seven months till March 2021,” said Damania.
{{/usCountry}}She added that children are also facing stress during the pandemic.
“During the pandemic, we took our peer educator programme online with three schools and reached out to 920 students, 178 parents, and 120 teachers through our orientation. During this academic year, 160 students became peer educators ready to support their peers. We reached out to 2,976 people in this manner. All this was possible because of the hard work and dedication of our volunteers towards the cause,” said Damania.