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Self harm key concern among youth seeking mental health support at TISS initiative

From April 2023 to October 2025 the CHAMPS helpline received a total of 27706 genuine calls.

Prof. Joshi highlighted that self harm needs to be further studied as research in this area is still at a nascent stage in India.Prof. Joshi highlighted that self harm needs to be further studied as research in this area is still at a nascent stage in India.

Self-harm has emerged as a significant concern among young callers seeking mental health support at the CHAMPS helpline, an initiative by iCALL run by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) with the support of UNICEF.
CHAMPS is a helpline for children and adolescents across India for their mental and emotional wellbeing.

As per their recently published data, nearly 10 percent of calls involve individuals engaging in non-suicidal self-injury as a way of coping with emotional pain, ranking it second among top six concerns, while emotional distress continues to dominate with over 39 percent of calls to the helpline.

Other concerns among the top six include – relationship issues (5.68%), suicidal ideation (3.40%), violence (3.32%), and finally education and career (3.05%).

From April 2023 to October 2025 the CHAMPS helpline received a total of 27706 genuine calls.

Aparna Joshi, assistant professor at the School of Human Ecology at the TISS, which runs iCALL helpline, email and chat based mental health and psychosocial services as a field action project, said, “Self harm or non-suicidal self injury is definitely a rising concern especially among adolescents and young individuals. Self harm is often without suicidal intent and may not be necessarily to end one’s life. Young people may find it difficult to manage stress, strong emotions and pain. Self harm is one of the ways of coping with the same. Young individuals need to be supported in finding helpful and constructive ways of coping with their life difficulties”.

Prof. Joshi highlighted that self harm needs to be further studied as research in this area is still at a nascent stage in India.

Further, a graph comparing percentage of genuine calls received by the CHAMP helpline over the past three years shows a steady growth in number from 64.8 per cent in 2023 (April-December) to 68.8 per cent in 2024 (January to December) and finally 75.6 per cent in 2025 (January to October).

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Even as this service offers multilingual assistance to callers; maximum calls (95.3%) were in Hindi. Further analysis of callers below 25 years of age shows that a large number of them have reached out to the helpline for themselves and maximum of them are males.

Furthermore, data from ReYou, which is a chat-based service for youth suicide prevention by iCALL Psychosocial Helpline, shows 14 per cent increase in average monthly sessions done in the year 2025, compared to 2024.

Pallavi Smart is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Her reporting is singularly focused on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional Expertise and Authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from foundational schooling to advanced higher education. She is a highly Trustworthy source for policy, institutional developments, and systemic issues affecting students, teachers, and parents in Maharashtra. Expertise Senior Role: As a Principal Correspondent at The Indian Express, her designation reflects her seniority, specialized knowledge, and the editorial rigor applied to her reporting. Core Authority & Specialization: Pallavi Smart is the definitive voice for Education news in the region. Her coverage scope is comprehensive: Policy and Regulatory Changes: Reports on major shifts in educational policy, including the restructuring of entrance exams (e.g., MHT-CET adopting the JEE Main model), the draft regulatory framework for coaching classes, and revised teacher recruitment processes. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): Provides in-depth reporting on prestigious institutes like IIT Bombay and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), covering institutional initiatives, administrative debates (e.g., renaming IIT Bombay), and student welfare programs (e.g., mandatory mental health courses). Teachers and Eligibility: Covers crucial issues affecting the teaching fraternity, such as the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for in-service teachers and related controversies and application numbers. Student Welfare & Rights: Focuses on issues concerning students, including the rollout of government scholarships, the financial strain on schools due to midday meal reimbursement delays, and instances of child rights violations (e.g., the Powai studio hostage crisis). Admissions and Vacancy: Tracks the outcome of centralized admission processes (e.g., MBBS, BPharm) and analyzes vacancy concerns, providing essential data-driven insights for parents and students. Credentials & Trustworthiness Dedicated Beat: Her consistent focus on the "KG to PG" education beat allows her to develop unparalleled subject matter knowledge, ensuring her reports are accurate, detailed, and contextualized. Proactive Reporting: Her articles frequently break news on policy and institutional planning, providing the public with timely, essential information about a sector that directly impacts millions of families. She tweets @Pallavi_Smart ... Read More

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