Partners

The Listening Station

In the first COVID-19 lockdown in India in 2020, a group of counsellors in Nagaland volunteered their services via telephone to young migrants returning to the state, having had to disrupt their education or employment due to the pandemic. Upon return, many faced the stigma and isolation of being considered particularly ‘at risk’ for spreading the virus in the state. Since then, the volunteer group of counsellors from Nagaland have grown and expanded their work to provide mental health services to all youth in the state as part of the Listening Station project.

There is a clear need for accessible mental health services in the state, including linguistic accessibility in the context of 13 languages spoken in the state. Within India, Nagaland is a marginalized geography, with neglected mental health infrastructure. As there are very limited mental health services in the state, there is a need for simultaneous mental health awareness and education. This awareness and education is also important in the specific context of Nagaland when it comes to discussions of mental health support, where many people currently seek only religious leaders for support, and where mental illness is oftentimes confined and stipulated as an act of the supernatural.

The Listening Station project aims to create greater access to mental health services for communities in Nagaland, and to provide awareness and education on mental health through outreach with key community stakeholders and influencers. They operate a helpline staffed by academically trained counsellors, where service users can avail free mental health support. The helpline has a call-back facility, so service users may call as many times as they need. In addition to the services offered by The Listening Station, the team of trained counsellors will also begin community outreach work with colleges, community spaces such as churches and Morungs (youth dormitory/community spaces for young men, in Naga cultures) to facilitate discussions on mental health in local and vernacular languages.

To reach The Listening Station, call: 9077589354 / 9863164425.