Project Mumbai Launches ‘Phone-A-Friend’ Helpline To Help Board Exam Students Manage Stress And Anxiety

Project Mumbai has launched a toll-free helpline number for students who will appear for the board exams. Phone-A-Friend, a special stress busting facility for 10th and 12th graders aims to help the students relieve examination stress and anxiety.

Project Mumbai, a non-governmental organisation working to make Mumbai a better place to live, has also been focusing on creating emotional well-being awareness for adolescents. As the board exams for Class 10 and Class 12 come closer, the NGO has come up with a unique toll-free helpline effort called PHONE-A-FRIEND, to the assistance of students experiencing examination stress.

Project Mumbai has also created a mini manual for students who wish to seek self-help in coping with stress. This guide includes creating a study plan in advance, taking short breaks, eating healthy meals, keeping the body hydrated, practice deep breathing, set realistic goals, get around 8 hours of sleep, limit screen time, share your feelings and repeat positive affirmations with oneself.

Project Mumbai's toll-free helpline, SAMVAAD, was started during COVID to help the elderly and young adults dealing with health anxiety. Now, it also focuses on supporting adolescents aged 10 years to 19 years, with the goal of promoting help-seeking behaviour. SAMVAAD provides students with access to a toll-free helpline, offering them important support for their mental and emotional health.

Shahana Siddiqui, Mental Head lead from Project Mumbai, said, "Students experience all kinds of stress and anxiety before and during exams. This could not just be fear of performance, but peer pressure and pressure from parents. Often, students are unable to express this added level of worry to others for fear of being judged. Keeping this in mind, our toll-free helpline SAMVAAD has added another feature, phone-a-friend, to address these concerns of children."

Students can dial 1800-102-4040 from 8am to 6pm to share their worries with experts. Project Mumbai will also host a special Phone-A-Friend online session on Friday from 5.30pm to 6pm to address some of the commonly raised and experienced queries from students. Students can write to mentalhealth@projectmumbai.org to register themselves.