Breaking the cocoons of isolation

The National Tele-Mental Health Programme in India has achieved a significant milestone of receiving over 10 lakh calls on its tele-MANAS (Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States) toll-free number, which is reflective of improvement in mental health service delivery. This calculates to average 3,500 calls made to the toll-free number daily seeking assistance from mental health professionals by those suffering from mental health issues, which also speaks volumes about the growing mental health problems in the country. Reducing stress, lifestyle changes, and strong emotional support at home, in educational institutions, and at the workplace need to be prioritised to strengthen the prevention of mental health problems. Altogether, 51 Tele-MANAS cells are spread across all states and Union Territories under the programme run on digital platforms. Easy and quick access to such services plays a crucial role in preventing deterioration in mental health conditions and preventing those suffering from slipping into a bottomless pit of depression and developing a tendency to take extreme steps. When family members notice any sign of distress or anxiety gripping anyone in the family, they can promptly seek the assistance of a mental health counsellor on how to help the individual come out of it. Often, due to apprehension of stigmatisation, people are hesitant to share about their mental health issues. The mental health condition only worsens when they continue to suffer in loneliness. When they get emotional support from family members, friends, and colleagues who notice their suffering and offer to help overcome it, they feel confident about discussing their mental health problems. Making free counselling by health professionals more accessible is critical to discouraging youth looking for free counselling on social media networking sites by people who do not have any professional training either to diagnose mental health conditions or to give any scientific counselling for healing. Building awareness on mental health needs to address this challenge and focus on educating the youth that self-diagnosis based on unreliable and incomplete information on social media could pose a greater risk to their health. Instead, they should share their issues with family members and friends to seek help from a trained mental health professional. The social media-based self-diagnosis and self-medication is not just limited to mental health issues alone but has become a worrying trend in respect of general health issues too, posing serious health risks to more people. Sleep loss is known to be a key contributing factor to anxiety and distress. Working till late night out of anxiety to be left behind in the competitive world or scrolling the smartphones till late hours in the night leads to deprivation from quality sleep. Unfortunately, this has become a trend among many youths across the country. Ironically, many health-conscious individuals, a large section of them young professionals, who prioritise diet and exercise to remain healthy ignore the importance of quality sleep. The exposure of young children in schools and colleges to digital screens for long hours traps many of them in digital cocoons of isolation, and when they encounter anxiety and depression, they often feel completely alone, even when they are at home with family members. Parents and educational institutions taking special measures to reduce exposure to digital screens of smartphones or computers with internet connection and replacing those with physical activities like sports and outdoor games, physical reading in libraries, and visits to museums in the company of family members and friends can go a long way in ending their isolation. This will also prevent any symptoms of mental health issues from going unnoticed at home or in educational institutions. This will also require parents and senior members of the family to reduce their own digital hours and spend more time together with children and younger members to strengthen the family bond and create an ecosystem of sharing each other’s problems with the same confidence as sharing happy moments of achievement, success, etc. Not just screen time, but parental guidance and control over digital content is crucial to preventing exposure of young children to inappropriate content and falling prey to cybercriminals. Digital technology has become an integral part of the modern education system. Educational institutions and teachers also need to play a crucial role in guiding students on internet use so that they are not exposed to any attacks by cybercriminals on the internet that may cause mental distress and give rise to serious mental health issues. Building awareness among children about safe internet use will also encourage them to share with their parents and teachers whenever they are targeted by cybercriminals and overcome any mental health issues they might be having on account of undesired or unsafe digital exposure. Children with such guidance inculcate the habit of sharing as they grow into adulthood. Ending isolation, both in the digital and physical worlds, is the pragmatic approach to dealing with rising mental health issues.