74.4% callers seeking help via Tele-MANAS in 18-45 age group: Govt data

The government's national mental health helpline Tele-MANAS has received 3.4 lakh calls since its launch in October last year with every three out of four callers belonging to the 18-45 age group, official data showed.

Of the total 3,46,935 calls that were received, 55.8 per cent were from men while 44.2 per cent from women, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The toll-free helpline received an average of around 2,000 calls in a day and the major reasons for calling were sleep disturbances, sadness of mood, stress related and anxiety in descending order, official sources said.

They said 74.4 per cent of the callers fall in the age group of 18 to 45 years.

At present, 44 Tele MANAS cells are operating through 33 states and Union Territories including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Ladakh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, West Bengal,Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.

The highest number of calls were handled by the Cell 104 helpline of Chennai's Institute of Mental Health.

The National Tele Mental Health Programme of India envisions working as a comprehensive, integrated and inclusive 24 x 7 tele-mental health facility in each state and Union Territory in India through 51 functional Tele MANAS cells.

The World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10.