Campaign on Overcoming Exam Fear...

Suicide Prevention Helpdesk of Makro Foundation has completed 5 years today ie 18th December 2014. Makro Foundation has been working on promotion of positive mental and emotional health. Since our inception we have provided intervention to over  6500 clients who called us to seek help on issues of suicide thoughts, suicidal ideation, depression,stress, financial stress, academic stress, relationship stress, extra marital affairs stress, HIV/AIDs related stress, Internet addiction stress, and other mental health issues. 

As December-January has arrived its time for exams.. board exams, final exams, Intermediate -PG final exams..so students are under extreme stress phenomenon as there is pressure, expectation from all sides. So Makro Foundation has launched a campaign online and offline to help students write exams stress free. this campaign will run from December 18th 2014-March 2015. 

Under this campaign MaFo will publish articles on how to overcome stress, exam fear, how to study better, focus more on positive stress.

1. MaFo will provide counseling direct counseling and over the phone 040-46004600 Mon-Fri ***10 am-7:00 pm. 
2. Mafo will visit schools,colleges and talk about stress management and provide campus counselling also to the required students, parent or care givers. 
3.  MaFo will conduct Overcoming Exam Fear tips sessions for students,parent, care givers.

Internet Addiction

Internet Addiction Disorder or more broadly overuse ,problematic computer use or pathological computer use that interferes with daily life and is not limited to any single cause.

There are people who spend more than  hours on social networking sites without doing anything else. If you are among them who spend more than 10 hours on social networking sites/gaming/cell phone than there might be a problem. 

 

 Symptom

• Change in mood
• Preoccupation with Internet and digital media, video games.
• Inability to control the amount of time spent in Internet.
• The need for more time or new game to achieve a desired mood
• Using Internet to avoid problems 
• Withdrawal when not engaged in Internet/Gaming
• Lowering of social Life
• Getting bored with people easily.
• Adverse impact on work,  education.
  
  Internet Addiction is not recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Mental Disorder but is being considered in the next edition.. Gender affects the type of Internet usage but does not affect the risk.

 Coping Mechanism

• Admit you have Internet addiction and press Log Out button
• Keep a log book of Internet usage on social networking sites
• Realize that more and more people in the world are becoming addicted to the internet
• Get a hobby or an interest that doesn't involve the internet, video games, TV, cell phones, smartphones, portable media players or computers
• Complete your work
• Help at home
• Hang out with friends/relatives/people 
• Use the Internet for the same amount of time each time you use it. Keep an alarm and stick to it.
• Delete accounts that you really don't need anymore.
• Delete your favorites Keep important pages you might need for work.
•  maintain lots of offline activities.
• Monitor your feelings when you're online and offline 
• Call people and talk to them instead of sending message and enjoy the conversation. 
•  Make one day a Internet Access Free Day
• Stop updating status from mobile device or tablets
• Spend time to learn something new.    
•  

If you have tried ant not been able to get over this behaviour  don't worry help is available..For free and confidential support,guidance, counselling **DIAL 040-46004600 *** 10 am-7 pm *** Mon-Fri **
 For Live chat support log on to: www.makrofoundation.org/express 
 

5th 2 K Depression prevention walkon 10th Sep 2014 to mark World Suicide Prevention Day

Makro Foundation (MaFo) is promoting the worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicide by organizing a week long awareness program from “8th September 2014- 12th September 2014” to mark the World Suicide Prevention Day that falls on 10th Sep 2014.

The details of the program are:
 

Date	Time	Event	Organized by
8/9/2014	11:00 am-1:00 pm	Session on Suicide	Makro Foundation
9/9/2014	11:00 am-1:00 pm	Online Campaign on Social Media	Makro Foundation
10/9/2014	3:00 pm-5:00 pm	2 K walk on Depression and suicide prevention	Makro Foundation, ROSHNI, SEVA, Lions Club International-316C
11/9/2014	11:00 am-1:00 pm	Session on Suicide Prevention in Urdu/English  medium instutions	Makro Foundation
12/9/2013	3:00 pm-5:00 pm	Awareness at Traffic X road in Ameerpet	Makro Foundation

 The international theme for 2014  is "Suicide Prevention: One World Connected". Keeping in tune with this years theme organization working for the same cause in Hyderabad have come together in one platform to organise a walk on suicide prevention.prevent suicide. 

Makro Foundation, Roshni, Seva, Lions Club Internation-316C have come together to organizing a Suicide Prevention 2 K Walk on 10th September 2014 in Hyderabad. Other partners are COVA,YWCA of Secunderabad and many others.

                             All are invited to join the walk and support the cause...
Details of the walk: 
Date: 10th September 2014** Wednesday
Time: 3:00 pm-5:00 pm ****    
 To register for this walk: Registration : Free 

You can call us at: 040-46004600 Mon-Fri 10:00am-7:00 pm or email at:aparna.adhikari@makrofoundation.org/rani.doddigar@makrofoundation.orgor partner organisation for registration.

NB: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the world, especially among young people. Nearly one million people worldwide die by suicide each year More than one lakh persons (1,34,779) in the country lost their lives by committing suicide during the year 2013 (NCRB report 2013). World health Organization has marked that Suicide is a global public health problem of and it is important to raises awareness as suicide is often a taboo issue and is relevant to all levels of society, from the individual, to those who may have lost a loved one to the governments who need to act to tackle this issue. Every year we have one million people who die from suicide approximately and this can be roughly translated into 3,000 deaths a day or one death every 40 seconds.

 

IDPL School : Independence day celebrations

 MaFo celebrated Independence day on 15th Aug 2014  at the IDPL school.This school is supported by MaFo

Independence Day celebration

Independence Day celebration

Winner of Kabbadi team

Chakras of our body...

Negative Thinking

Self talk is the thoughts that run in our head everyday. These thoughts are automatic and may be positive or negative. Some of the self talk comes from logic and reasoning, others may arise from misconception that is created due to lack of information.

Negative self talk   are thoughts that arise from our own mis perceptions, lack of information, own beliefs, self esteem, security, people, life and experience related to it that often overpower the capacity of logical reasoning.

Some common forms of negative and irrational self-talk include:  

Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones 

Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. Self criticism: Attacking self all the time with harsh words. (I cannot do it, I am stupid),  Self Rejection: Not able to accept self unconditionally (I am un capable, I am too fat), Self doubt: Little belief in self,feel insecure. (I doubt I can fulfill task), Self pity: Making self as a victim( Why this always happens to me?), Self blame: Believe that you are only responsible for everything that has gone wrong. (Why am I such a bad mother? I cannot even teach my children well.)

Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst.

Polarizing. You see things only as good or bad, black or white.

Example of some negative thoughts to be replaced by positive thoughts.

I've never done it before	It's an opportunity to learn something new
It's too complicated	I'll tackle it from a different angle
I don't have the resources	Necessity is the mother of invention.
There's not enough time	Let's re-evaluate some priorities

Everyone can find own way to remove negative self talk and replace with positive thoughts. If after trying also  thoughts are uncontrolled please see a counselor as living with it can lead to depression and other severe mental illness.

Some  tips

Learn to stop thinking negatively immediately-Look for the good,choose your words,surround self with positive people, accept don’t judge,limit complaints instead look for possibilities,stop worrying and take action,eat right, physically fit,

Do something kind to someone

Take a little fresh walk in fresh air and exercise can banish negativity

When heart rate increase chemicals are released  which increases make feel good factor

Clean up environment

Meditate to stop thinking

Positive thoughts Focusing on what is good about yourself, other people, and the world around you.

Practicing  Optimism  The tendency to expect the best possible outcome.

Practicing positive Attitude  A belief or opinion that predisposes you to act in a certain way.--Positive thoughts lead to positive feelings and actions

Positive thoughts lead to positive feeling which in turn leads to positive actions and ultimately success follows.

REFERRING A SUICIDAL PERSON

The usual sources of support available are:

1. family
2. friends
3. colleagues
4. crisis centers
5. health care professionals.

How to approach the resources?

• Try to get the permission of the suicidal person to enlist the support of the resources, and

       then contact them.

• Even if permission is not given, try to locate someone who would be particularly Sympathetic to the suicidal person.
• Talk to the suicidal person beforehand and explain that it is sometimes easier to talk to a stranger than a loved one, so that he or she does not feel neglected or hurt.
• Talk to the resource people without accusing them or making them feel guilty.
• Enlist their support in the actions to be taken.
• Be aware of their needs also.

When to refer when the person has:

• psychiatric illness;
• a history of previous suicide attempt;
• a family history of suicide, alcoholism or mental illness;
• physical ill health;
• no social support.

How to refer

 The  counsellor  must take the time to explain to the person the reason for the

       Referral.

• Arrange for the appointment.
• Convey to the person that referral does not mean that the health worker is washing his
• or her hands of the problem.
• See the person after the consultation.
• Maintain periodic contact

THINGS TO DO AND NOT TO DO-while handling suicidal clients

Things to do

1. Listen, show empathy, and be calm;
2. Be supportive and caring;
3. Take the situation seriously and assess the degree of risk;
4. Ask about previous attempts;
5. Explore possibilities other than suicide;
6. Ask about suicide plan;
7. Buy time - make a contract;
8. Identify other supports
9. Remove the means, if possible;
10. Take action, tell others, get help;
11. If the risk is high, stay on line with the person.
12. Discourage the Behavior.
13. Keep communication channels open
14. Talk about the negative and long-term effects.
15. Teach (quick) relaxation/breathing
16. Teach anger management
17. Teach to evaluate consequences.
18. Talk about the need for sharing this information with near/dear ones
19. Make the client understand that monitoring by parents or counselors is essential for early recovery.

Things not to do

1.      Ignore the situation;

2.      Be shocked or embarrassed and panic;

3.      Say that everything will be all right;

4.      Challenge the person to go ahead;

5.      Make the problem appear trivial;

6.      Give false assurances;

7.      Swear to secrecy;

8.      Leave the person alone

9.      Do not prescribe medication.

10.  Do not punish or reprimand harshly.

11.  Do not moralize or made person feel guilty. 

12.  Help him to think of it as a problem needing help.

13.  Assertively say ‘No’ to client’s demands for taking drugs like cough syrup, pills etc. to relieve anxiety or improve concentration.

14.   Even short-term, temporary relief with the help of these drugs should be highly discouraged