A person in distress may not get help over phone in first attempt, at least not if he or she dialed the emergency numbers of Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP) or Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS) – two of the leading psychiatry institutes in Ranchi. While both the institutes claim that their helpline numbers have been functional, correspondents of this newspaper could not get a single response during inspection calls made in the past 48 hours.
CIP runs two landline numbers and a toll free number especially to cater to the needs of people in distress. These contact numbers double up as suicide helpline numbers for people who have suicidal thoughts and are in need of counseling to avert an extreme step. Correspondents dialed the CIP helpline number 1800-345-1849 – a 24-hour toll free helpline number – several times on Thursday morning but the number was said to be unavailable. Similarly, there was no response when the correspondents dialed helpline numbers – 0651-2451116 and 0651-2451115.
CIP Director Dr. D Ram, however, said that the contact number of the OPD was functional. “As far as my knowledge, the helpline numbers were functional. I will have to check with the concerned doctors to see if there was any malfunction,” he said.
RINPAS, on the other hand, does not have a dedicated suicide helpline number. Calls made to its OPD number, 0651- 2450813, are often received by a nurse or a clerk, who asks the caller to bring the patient to the institute for any query or check up. There is no provision of counseling a distressed person over phone.
“We are working on a dedicated suicide helpline, and it should be functional in the next fortnight. The team will have seven members, including counselors and psychotherapists to deal with emergency cases over phone,” said RINAS Director Dr. Subhash Soren.
The lack of help over phone is particularly a concern at this time of the year as many students are in distress during exams and results, say academicians.
On Wednesday, an Intermediate student of St. Xavier’s College committed suicide as he reportedly could not cope with the pressure of examination. Many such cases are reported every year. The rise in such incidents has also forced Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) and many private schools to launch helpline numbers that offer counseling to distressed students.