As the lockdown lifts, “it’s okay to be anxious about getting out”

An 85-year-old pensioner from interior Maharashtra, anxious about her son’s imminent job loss or migrant labourers seeking food, money or support of any sort to get back home – all kinds of affected people call from across the country to Mumbai-based helpline BMC-Mpower 1on1.

In the two months since the helpline to address mental health issues was started, it has received about 45,000 calls, largely from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. But people have also reached out for help from Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh, among other States.

It’s quite “telling” that about 70 per cent of the calls are from males, indicating that mental health and seeking help is stigmatised in an environment where men are expected to be “macho”, says Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Mpower, an organisation handling mental health issues.

Having launched in the time of Covid, she said the helpline calls range from finding a testing facility to handling isolation, anxiety and depression. As the lockdown lifts, the concerns are on getting back and adjusting to work, Birla told BusinessLine , explaining their campaign to tell people “it’s okay to be anxious while stepping out.”

The round-the-clock, toll-free helpline was launched in April by Mpower in partnership with the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Varying problems

“Worry is universal,” says Sapna Bangar, psychiatrist and head of Mpower’s Mumbai centre, referring to the callers being from across the social and economic divide. While someone may call worried about getting two meals a day or paying back multiple loans, at another level where business is down, the concern is on maintaining a lifestyle.

After yesterday’s announcement on the lockdown being lifted, many have called with anxities about getting to work. Specially since schools are closed, families do not have support to take care of their children who will then be at home alone. “Many are worried about how the new normal will be,”she said.

In an environment where people do not reach out for help, Bangar said, the 85-year-old may have accessed the helpline number from local newspapers after the Chief Minister mentioned the service. The senior citizen was losing sleep, anxious about her son who was the bread-winner in the family. He worked in an IT company and was likely to lose his job, she said.

Another caller from the Jammu and Kashmir region was anxious to get back to work in Mumbai. But one heart-rending situation was of a young caller from Kolkata who was stuck in a home where he had been abused. Being unable to get back to work in Mumbai, he was reliving bad memories, said Bangar, adding that it took many therapists and difficult moments before they could actually help him, and they did.

With calls coming from across the country, Birla said, if a particular State showed a high number of callers, they could consider reaching out to address the need.

Info-box: Dial M for mental health

# Toll-free helpline: 1800-120-820050

# Support in Marathi, Hindi and English

# 20 percent callers hung-up before speaking, indicating stigma linked to mental health.

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