Distress calls pour in from students, parents

Chennai: Distress calls from students and parents continued pouring in on help lines a day after higher secondary results were announced.

“We got about the same number of calls from distressed students as we received on Friday,” said Dr Lakshmi Jayakumar, founder of Sneha helpline.

She said a number of students, who called were emotionally distressed and parents who called were worried about their child.

The 104 helpline, an initiative of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, which received 13,000 calls on Friday, received fewer distress calls but an equal number of calls for psychological counseling on Saturday as well.

B. Prabhudoss, regional manager, GVK EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute), said calls were lower but about 800 calls needed psychologists. A number of calls were from students, who believed they could have fared better.

“They were counseled on how to focus again, to improve their preparation during exams, and to overcome suicidal thoughts. It looked like the calls were predominantly from rural areas,” he added.