Jeevan, a Steel City-based suicide prevention centre, will organise a webinar on January 16 to help school students relieve stress.

With the government and private schools re-opening (for standard X and XII) after the lockdown, students are finding themselves on the receiving end and not being able to cope with the pandemic-related restrictions being imposed at schools.

Jeevan director Jeoraj Jain said they would also include teachers in the seminar and try to help students overcome their anxiety and stress. “We are organising the webinar on January 16 in which the students from X and XII would participate,” he informed.

According to him, the students might face difficulty to adjust to the restrictions imposed at schools. “Students never came across such situations in their life. They like mingling and talking to their friends. This was not possible during the lockdown and they don’t want it anymore. This builds stress on them. We would talk to the students and try to help them overcome stress. If possible, we will also include a psychologist in the webinar,” Jain said.

“As many as 24 people have committed suicide (mostly by hanging) in November last year. Social pressure, unemployment, loss of business and study pressure are some of the reasons. The stress level has not fully subsided,” Jain added.

According to him, Jeevan has stopped receiving daily distress phone calls since most people are not aware of its telephone numbers. “We have fixed two banners in Kadma and Sonari to spread the information,” Jain said.

Meanwhile, Jeevan has reopened its office in Bistupur. Two volunteers are working from 2 pm to 6 pm. Offline counselling is still on.