bengaluru the recently launched mental health helpline telemanas has been getting 20 calls a day on average from across karnataka the tele mental health assistance and networking across states received 443 calls in 21 days since october 11 a day after its launch the maximum number of calls were from people suffering from depression according to dr patley rahul assistant professor of psychiatry department of psychiatry national institute of mental health and neurosciences dr rahul said several callers complained about having had to face interpersonal and financial issues in most cases it would be a stressrelated issue and not one leading to a major disorder he added sleep disturbance was the second leading cause of mental distress with work from home giving way to work from office disruption in work hours and changes in daytoday habits as many are active till the end of the day watching something on their devices they have been unable to fall asleep immediately tobacco use close to sleep hours has also ended up having an impact on sleep when we look at them we see habits that need to change we remind them about practising good sleep hygiene to ensure they are relaxed he addedstress and anxiety are other factors addressed during telecounselling with causes ranging from examinations to relationships we see anxiety among those students who are unable to study and worry if they will pass the examination there are worries about their memory being poor the middleaged have financial and jobrelated anxieties dr rahul saiddoctors involved in the initiative said they call people to the hospital if they feel further consultation is needed we do share with callers antianxiety measures relaxation techniques and lifestyle changes dr rahul said prescribing medication is likely to start when telemanas gets integrated with the national telemedicine service esanjeevani portalthe union governments telemanas aims to provide free telemental health services all over the country roundtheclock particularly catering to people in remote or underserved areas the centres plan is to have at least one telemanas cell in each stateunion territory nimhans is the nodal centre and international institute of information technologybangalore iiitb is providing technology support for the helpline in karnatakamental health is as important as physical health anyone feeling depressed suffering from anxiety behavioural issues alcohol and substanceuse problems family issues stress studyrelated issues suicidal thoughts and so on may call this free helpline counselling takes place in english and kannada and the information is confidential said dr rajani p deputy director mental health department of health and family welfare