A youth organisation, Samadhan, has launched mental counselling through teleconferencing at a time when anxiety and stress levels of people are higher because of concerns over job and future prospects that have taken a beating due to the lockdown for the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Though counselling at individual levels was on for more than a week, we have decided to reach the facility to the public in association with Dhanbad police from Tuesday,” Samadhan founder Chandan Singh said. “People can contact our counsellors for answers related to their concerns. We will release the teleconferencing number on Tuesday.”

Singh added that Samadhan volunteer Shubhangi More, 24, who is doing her masters in psychology from Lake Montfort School in Bangalore, is counselling those in need for free.

“One can send queries through calls, mails, chat box, videoconferencing during the lockdown but we can’t carry out face-to-face conversations,” Subhangi said.

She said the counselling sessions are needed because many people are going through a mental slump.

“Work used to be a major source of distraction for all kinds of tension. Many feel they are not doing anything productive and are thus getting frustrated and eventually get into fights with family members or other people. Dispute between couples are the most common these days, which often lead to violence,” she said.

“Elderly people are anxious over reports that they are more prone to Covid-19. My general suggestion for people during the lockdown will be to restrict news watching as anxiousness peaks over reports of virus spread and chances of infections increase,” she added.

Victims of domestic abuse/violence need to move and elderly people need to share their concerns with others around them, she said.