Suicide prevention helpline gets 1,100 calls on results day

These figures are based on analysis done by the clinical psychologists, who counsel the callers. The study will be done on Tuesday as well, said Dr Sivagurunathan, the head of the project. “We have been getting more calls since last year but a firm comparison can be done only after both the days,” he said.

This year, students who failed the exams have been asking for other education and career options apart from continuing studies, it was noted. “Students have been asking if they can opt for diploma courses instead of redoing Class 10 or moving forward to higher classes. This was very new to us. It could be because they don’t want to be under stress for another two years,” said Dr Sivagurunathan. No distress calls for any specific subjects have been received as yet.

He added, “We have psychologists round the clock to provide counselling for different strata of people. For the past five years, we have also been conducting counselling programmes for all the students those who have or are facing the board examinations in three phases — during pre-exams, during the main examinations and when the results are announced.” Counsellors collect the history and find out the need of the caller. Depending on the need, they give therapy to the student and mark dates for regular follow-up calls to be made until he/she improves.