“I think my neighbours are plotting against me,” said a 45-year-old farmer from Raichur district, who reached out to a government-run mental health helpline after weeks of unease and fear. The counsellor who spoke to him noticed signs of a possible psychiatric disorder and referred him to a mental health professional. It was later found that both he and his wife had earlier been diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, but had discontinued treatment once they began to feel better.

Kilometres away in Bengaluru, a 22-year-old woman, two months pregnant, called the same service seeking help for fear, sleeplessness, and negative thoughts linked to a previous miscarriage. The counsellor guided her through relaxation techniques and connected her to a local facility for in-person assessment and ongoing therapy.

When mental health services were first discussed in India, they were largely perceived as a concern for urban populations — professionals, students, or those with access to private healthcare. Rural communities, however, were considered largely untouched by issues such as depression, anxiety or stress, and the idea of seeking psychological support was often alien. Moreover, in many of these areas, professional psychological care remained a distant concept, and institutional services rarely reached those who needed them most.

Fast forward to 2025, and the narrative is changing. The Karnataka Tele-MANAS cell, part of the National Tele Mental Health Programme, has been seeing the number of calls multiply nearly 60-fold since its inception in 2022, with rural areas increasingly making up a significant proportion of calls at 68%, highlighting both rising awareness and the growing burden of mental health issues outside cities. The calls coming from urban areas stand at 32% in the State.

Karnataka’s Tele-MANAS surge

In Karnataka, the Tele-MANAS helpline now handles more than 340 calls per day.