The Hindu : New Delhi News : A hope for Board students

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 20, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

A hope for Board students

Staff Reporter

Helpline to tackle anxiety, distress before and after the results

NEW DELHI: Aimed at helping students cope with stress associated with the results of the Classes X and XII Board examinations, Hopeline 2006 -- a free and confidential telephonic helpline -- will provide students the much-needed support system from this Saturday.

Based on its experience of the past nine years, this telephonic helpline will take care of the high level of anxiety and distress of students as well as their parents just before and immediately after the Board results of Classes X and XII. It will be operational till June 1.

After the announcement of the Board examinations, some common feelings affecting the students are despair, worthlessness, fear of losing one's image in family, among peer groups and social circle, besides sheer hopelessness about one's career, an acute sense of guilt and fear of rejection from the peer group or relatives.

These factors lead to anxiety, confusion and depression among the students, thereby affecting not only their physical and mental health but also studies and career.

Claiming to have helped 38,787 students and 4,800 parents, besides 274 students with suicidal tendencies, since it came into inception, Hopeline will provide emphatic and non-judgmental support to students from Saturday to help them deal with situational and psychological distress.

One of the flagship projects of Snehi, an organisation for psycho-social support and mental health care based on prevention and intervention approach, Hopeline 2006 -- which will operate through telephone numbers 55978181 and 55418181 -- will be manned by 22 honorary counsellors and professionals under the supervision of Dr. Deepak Gupta, a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

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