Tele Manas helpline abuzz, experts advise institutes to appoint counsellors

Hyderabad: With exams around the corner, many students are said to be lining up at psychologists' offices with high anxiety, stress, fear of exams, and fear of failure, among other symptoms.

Tele Manas, a toll-free mental health care service (14416 or 18008914416) that provides tele-counselling and psycho-social support, receives about 200 to 250 calls every day, mostly from students, apart from those under financial pressure. Intermediate students, who are used to a set pattern of studying — primarily rote learning — until class 10, are said to be most affected as they are unable to grasp concepts on their own or meet their parents' and teachers' expectations, said psychologists TOI spoke to.

Even students enrolled in professional courses are unable to take the pressure.

"We must have received at least 30-40 calls from students with suicidal tendencies," said P Jawaharlal Nehru, a psychologist who provides services through Tele Manas. He said that from the second week of Feb, as exams gets closer, the number of callers increases manifold as many students resort to burning the midnight oil without having proper sleep or food.

He pointed out that many students are unable to cope as they are studying a course that someone else chose or have lost interest in it after joining because it turned out to be different from what they imagined.

"Despite educational boards making it mandatory to have counsellors, not many have one. Because of this, many students are not getting the required support. During exams, they are not eating properly, consuming water, or getting the required sleep, and because of this, they are unable to remember or learn things. This is resulting in high anxiety and high stress among students," said Anitha Are, a clinical psychologist, adding that she saw about 25 cases in the last month.

Parents, meanwhile, said that be it schools or colleges, managements should ensure that counsellors are present.