SNEHA Launches Live Chat facility as part of their suicide helpline services

11th April 2023, Chennai: The National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) latest report states that 164,033 people died by way of suicide in India in 2021. However, for every completed suicide, there are at least 20 attempted ones which suggests, even by a conservative estimate, around 3 million suicide attempts in India every year.  This makes it a major public health concern in our country.

Launch video👇

With India showing a greater rate of increase of suicides in the last four years, it is the Southern States that show the highest rates of increase. Additionally, it is in the age group below 30 years that the incidence of suicides is the greatest. In Tamil Nadu, suicides have shown a rising trend with 12,659 deaths, an increase of 26% in 2021 compared to 2020.

37 years of SNEHA: This year, SNEHA completes 37 years of listening and offering emotional support - “befriending” as SNEHA terms it - to people who are distressed, depressed and/or suicidal. 

Established in 1986 as the vision of a doctor couple - Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar & Dr. Vijayakumar - SNEHA has provided emotional support to about 10,00,000 people in distress. All the services of SNEHA are staffed completely by volunteers and are free of cost. Currently, the team work on a 10 AM to 1 AM schedule across the year.

SNEHA’s efforts have been, targeted towards research, policy change and community outreach to reduce youth suicide.

SNEHA launches an online Chat service: The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to increased feelings of isolation due to a decrease in human interaction and, for SNEHA, it highlighted the need for more online access to people seeking help when experiencing an emotional crisis.

They are now introducing an online chat helpline as part of their services to help the youth who go through great emotional trauma. 

Dr. Lakshmi Vijaykumar, Founder, SNEHA, said,” Cases of suicide in India have increased by 33,000 to 1,64,000 in 2022. We are launching the online chat feature in keeping with the trend of online chatting being a preferred form of communication primarily amongst the youth. A recent survey in India showed that 50% of youngsters preferred chatting over audio calling. We do not want to miss out on that group of people whose first preference is the chat format and want to help those in need among them with the right type of intervention.”

SNEHA’s online chat helpline is available between 10 PM and 1 AM now and they hope to extend the service timing shortly to cover more hours. This chat service will be in addition to the existing crisis helpline and email support that SNEHA offers the community. 

SNEHA inputs into Policy

SNEHA has played a role in influencing many key policy decisions.  This includes:

• Working with WHO and IASP to institute September 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day
• Frame media guidelines for responsible reporting of deaths by suicide.
• Bringing focus on rising student suicides as a result of examination failure 
• Actively campaigning towards decriminalisation of suicide.  

Among the projects they have worked on in Tamil Nadu are:

• Srilankan refugee camps on prevention of suicides.  
• Interventions for children / bereaved by the Tsunami in Srinivasapuram ,Chennai
• Reducing access to pesticides in Kattumannarkoil  ( Supported by EHO)
• Intervention for reducing suicide among refugees in Kottapattu  near Tiruchirapalli

SNEHA also expands awareness in the society by reaching out to youngsters in schools and colleges, young professionals in workplaces, primary care givers in hospitals and nursing colleges, other NGOs, self-help groups and factories. 

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