Mental health crisis in medical fraternity! Over 300 medicos seek help via FAIMA helpline in 4 months

New Delhi: Doctors and Medical students across the country are reeling under mental health issues.

This has come to light once again, as members of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) have informed that more than 300 doctors across India have availed the Mental Health Helpline of FAIMA within a few months of its launch.

The majority of the doctors and students who availed this service were suffering exam (NEET PG, NEET SS) related stress. Further junior resident doctors were found to be overworked, and they were dealing with several other issues. Meanwhile, senior doctors had issues in their service and they also had interpersonal relationship problems. Some of the female doctors reported on pregnancy-related issues.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that last year, in August, FAIMA had launched the Mental Health Helpline to support doctors, medical students, and healthcare workers facing stress and mental health challenges.

This initiative was launched at a time when cases of suicide among doctors and students were rising due to extreme stress from work, long shifts, and academic pressure. Many of them were reportedly battling depression because of the challenging nature of the medical profession.

Back then, the association had launched this 365-day Mental Health Redressal Helpline (MHRH) announcing that the helpline would remain available 20 hours daily, seven days a week, and would be managed by a dedicated team of psychiatrists.

Commenting on the matter, Dr. Sajal Bansal, the Chief Coordinator and Chief Advisor of FAIMA, said that currently, a team of more than 50 psychiatrists are working in the helpline. He told Medical Dialogues, "The basic concept behind this helpline was to help medicos. We were getting lots of news regarding deaths of medicos because of suicides, lots of mental health related complaints. Those were not addressed properly at any level- meaning that the administration was not taking it seriously. The Government itself has its own helpline- Tele-MANAS. It is very good, but many people are not aware of this... It has somehow not reached the students at the grassroots levels. We have released this helpline and Doctors came forward and agreed to help students completely free of cost, maintaining confidentiality."

"We received a very good response from all over India. More than 300 medicos have called on the helpline and sought help for their mental health. Many students were under stress due to the exam- post NEET PG, some were doing NEET SS exam and others were residents working at the hospitals. We got calls from some senior doctors also. Their issue was interpersonal relationships, family matter etc. Altogether, we have addressed every medico- from the students to senior medical doctors also," he added.

Dr. Bansal further added that FAIMA has also launched a de-addiction drive. Pointing out that addiction is a very serious issue and nobody talks about it, he explained that even if a doctor wants to talk about it, he would not go to a colleague, because of being ashamed or embarrassed.

"This time, we have some mental health ambassadors, some socially well-known doctors. Dr. Shivaranjani Santosh, Dr. Nachiket Bhatia, Dr. Vishal Gabale, content creator, and Dr. Manjeet Dhiman," he added.

"Mental health of doctors is one of the most important components that we need to focus upon at the moment. We have seen that doctors, especially young doctors below the age of 35 are suffering from a lot of mental illnesses, mental distress, depression, anxiety, workplace violence, workplace fear, and a lot of times torture from the seniors as well," Dr. Rohan Krishnan, Chief Patron of FAIMA, said.

Referring to FAIMA's initiative, he added, "Top psychiatrists have been involved, a 24x7 helpline is operative, and we have also ensured that the facility is given free of cost, and strict confidentiality is also maintained. So, we want more people to come forward and avail this service."

According to a nationwide survey conducted by United Doctors Front (UDF) and Medical Dialogues last year, an alarming 86% of India's young doctors and medical students believe that excessive duty hours are directly harming their mental health and compromising patient safety.

The online survey, conducted between March 12 and 24, 2025, gathered responses from 1,031 MBBS interns and PG medical students across all Indian states and union territories. The survey indicated that 84.77% reported suffering from anxiety, depression, or burnout, 81.09% felt chronically overburdened, and 86.52% said exhaustion was affecting both their efficiency and patient safety.

Commenting on this, Dr. Lakshya Mittal, the National Chairperson of United Doctors Front (UDF), said, "Due to the increasing number of suicides and seats being left by medical students, UDF and medical dialogues had conducted an online survey nationwide. It was surprising to see the results were almost similar to the findings of the National Task Force 2024 report, constituted by NMC. Following the survey, UDF has filed a PIL in Hon’ble Supreme Court for strict implementation of 1992 residency rules across the nation. Unauthorized long duty hours forged through fake duty rosters are the mother of all toxicity in medical education. Once we ensure fixed duty hours, it will provide a proper work-life balance to the residents, and the toxicity chain will be broken."

Also Read: FAIMA launches 365-day mental health support for medical professionals