2020 has been a rollercoaster ride for people, Mentally! Staying at home was a dream come true and now, home seems like a jail. The amount of frustration, anxiety, depression, isolation and most importantly, Giving up on Lives, was very recurrent. But, just as every cloud has a silver lining, a Ray of Hope – KIRAN, came for the rescue of the mentally tired individuals. KIRAN is a 24/7 Mental Health Helpline Number started by the Government of India in order to act as a Listener to the Problems of people. The helpline came into existence this year, on September 7.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1651352
As it is correctly said that ‘A Burnt Child Dreads the Fire’, adding on to it, he not only gets cautious himself, but makes people know that the Fire is harmful. In the same way, the thought behind the KIRAN helpline was of a Young Woman, who had experienced something dreadful and didn’t want anyone else to go through it. We are to talk about RAASHI THAKRAN who deserves all the credits for her stand for launching a Helpline number especially to look after the Mental Health of people.
India’s First 24/7 National Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline -'Kiran’ (1800-599-0019) Open to Calls! Big cheers to @RaashiThakran for her unparalleled determination to #StandAgainstSuicide #SheCreatesChange#SuicidePrevention pic.twitter.com/ctXuMMAikV
— Change.org India (@ChangeOrg_India) September 3, 2020
Raashi shares her experience with INN saying,
“I started the petition last year in July with Change.org who wanted to help me through it further. I wasn’t really sure of how to go about it. At first, I had to go around telling people of what the petition actually was because, Suicide is a much tabooed topic to talk on. Some of them didn’t understand and others didn’t want to talk about it. I was not sure of the way people would respond to it but, within the first month, the petition was signed by almost 1 Lakh individuals. It was a very overwhelming and positive response.”
Raashi also told that after a certain point, people started approaching her to sign the petition and media channels wanted to cover her petition when the number of signs increased.
“A lot of people had suffered through what my family and I did and they didn’t know how to reach out, or did not get the support that was needed. But, when the petition came into being, I think those people found solace and knew that even they could be a part of the change by demanding for a NATIONAL HELPLINE NUMBER,”
said Raashi.
Behind every successful child is the faith and belief of their parents. Raashi calls herself lucky enough when she says that her parents were extremely supportive of her decision because even they wanted to get this story out in order to prevent other families from going through what they did.
“No one really stopped me, because they knew that I won’t stop!” says Raashi while adding that her kin was a little awkward to talk about her brother’s demise due to suicide and even wanted to call it an accident in order to avoid certain questions.
“We’re not going to lie about it, because, WE ARE NOT ASHAMED OF IT, and WE WANT TO REMEMBER HIM BY HIS LIFE, HOW HE LIVED AND WE WANT TO HONOUR THAT!” said Raashi as a comeback to people who wanted her to not talk about the story and this pushed her to take this experience to the masses in order to help avoid any other such incidences.
Raashi went through a rough patch last year, in February, when she lost her little brother to suicide. While in that difficult situation, Raashi found MEANING in what she was doing. Explaining the sixth step of grief, she explains us that,
“Finding Meaning in your loss is what matters. You accept that ‘Yes, it has happened’ and that’s exactly what happened in my case. I started working towards this cause, I decided to channelize my grief, and not just Heal myself but others too, in the process.”
Raashi Thakran, being an Engineer Graduate, left her IT Job and dedicated herself to Mental Health and Psychology and this was her way of finding Meaning. Very confidently, the 22 year old says that, “I wanted to do this to honour Raghav and, if not me then Who?”
Revaluating her life after the heart-breaking incident, the turn from being an IT professional to a Mental Health advocate was quite difficult but at the same time, needed, tells Raashi.
“I was busy running behind a good job and then a high pay-scale, a fancy house and independence, but, after Raghav’s loss, I realised how unpredictable and short life is. This made me re-prioritize a lot of things,” Raashi.
After dialing almost 15 helpline numbers while researching about suicide prevention and just hearing a Switch Off tune from all the numbers, finally when the Government brought in a National Helpline KIRAN – 1800-599-0019 which will work 24/7, Raashi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Raashi Thakran conducts training sessions on Suicide Prevention and Mental Health. She is a Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) instructor trainer which is a training for suicide prevention that guides people on how to question an individual about suicidal thoughts, how to persuade them to get help and refer them to proper resources.
“We should look for signs that a person may show before taking such a step. Have more open conversations, convince the person that those problems are temporary and even if the pain is mighty it is momentary and come what may, we are all here for you,” is the message Raashi wants to spread.
“Right now, some of us are really struggling and it’s completely normal to be struggling because these are very uncertain times. So don’t blame yourself for it because it’s not your fault. All you’ve to do is reach out and you’ll find innumerable solutions to your problems. Your life is very precious to the ones who love you and when you learn to survive and share your story, that story will become someone else’s survival guide and maybe this thought could keep you going!”
Raashi concludes.
Sew the mentally torn side of your mind by reaching out to the ray of hope – KIRAN – 1800-599-0019.
