Tele Manas helps man overcome suicidal crisis

Panaji: A few months ago, the govt’s online platform for distress-related issues, Tele Manas, received a call at 2am from a young man in his late 20s on the verge of ending his life. He called the helpline as a last resort.

“He was anxious, impulsive, overwhelmed by emotions, and experiencing active suicidal ideation,” said Dr Sneha Pokle, senior consultant psychiatrist of Tele Manas Goa.

“Intervention by the Tele Manas team had an immediate de-escalating effect on him as he felt relieved at being heard and began to calm down. If he didn’t call, there were high chances he would have ended his life that night or after some days or weeks,” she said.

After his consent to share general (not personal) information with his mother, who was desperately trying to get in touch with him that night, a health professional from Tele Manas spoke to her and got them to come to the OPD at South Goa district hospital for a follow-up.

“He came across as a high-functioning individual, intelligent but emotionally sensitive. He experienced suicidal thoughts for a year after a depressive episode while pursuing his education, and he couldn’t understand what was happening to him,” Pokle said.

The team found there were multiple triggers across episodes that pushed him to attempt suicide—his parents’ chronic illness, relationship issues, workplace stress, general anxiety, and intrusive thoughts.

Although he had friends and family, he didn’t find them supportive or understanding towards his condition.

The Tele Manas team, comprising trained psychiatrists and psychologists, worked with him and his family, offering psychoeducation—a therapeutic process of educating them about why he was feeling the way he was.

The team regularly followed up with him over months while he continued to be a high-risk case, and he too would call when he found himself in stressful situations, even late at night.

Slowly, with medication and support, he got back into a routine, began self-care again—going for a walk, spending time with family, joined a gym, and also improved his diet. His partner, who couldn’t understand why he was isolating himself, is now educated and supports him.