Srinagar: There is a quiet revolution in mental health care in Jammu and Kashmir. For many depression and dark ideas, a single phone call is making all differences.UT has emerged as a prominent artist in India in response to mental health crisis call. Running this change is a tele psyche, a center-supported digital mental health aid initiative. It came out during the National Launch of Video Consultation under the Tele Manas and Hindi version of the Tele Manas App 1.0 earlier this month.The central government announced the launch of the National Tele Mental Health Program in October 2022, which provides free, round-the-clock mental health counseling through digital platforms, aimed at making mental health care accessible. A year later, the Tele Manas centers were established in various states, emerging as one in Jammu and Kashmir, which was emerging as before to operate completely.Out of the 1,03,504 calls received by the Center so far, 87,450 were initiated by the user, while 15,731 were follow -up or outreach calls made by Tele Manas. At the top of the country’s list in terms of population-to-coal ratio, J&K Tele Manas Center is also one of the busiests, which handles about 150 calls a day. The Center, the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS), is based on the campus of Kashmir, has 19 counselors, seven psychiatrists, and IMhans, a backup from a team of clinical psychologists of Kashmir.When video consultation started under the program in October 2023, J&K three states/UTS were selected. Since then, more than 400 video counseling has been held and is a pioneer in both J&K volume and adoption, the head of the National Coordinating Center, Dr. Naveen Kumar C, said. He said that video counseling was only a significant change from audio-online interaction as it allowed more effective clinical engagement.Imhan, Tele Manas in Kashmir, Professor Arshid Hussain, attributed the success of the service to the combination of the digitally linked population of J&K and the combination of awareness about the program between them. He said that the Center was receiving calls from Jammu and Kashmir, which included areas like Gurez and Karna in the valley and the border areas of Rajouri, Ponch, Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua and Rasi in Jammu.The most common issue reported through the Tele Manas is a consistently low mood-related depressive symptom, which is an accounting for 38.5% in all cases. This is followed by anxiety related issues, including generalized anxiety, nervous attacks and phobia, which call about 20%. Around 9.27% of the users sought help for tension associated with examination, workplace pressure, or difficulties of relationships. About 4% showed the symptoms of losing touch with reality such as hallucinations or illusory thinking, while disturbed, suicidal thoughts or previous efforts were recorded in 3.4% consultations.
