Welcome to the Mixed Emotions Podcast with Mihir Oka

Episode: Suicides, Prevention, How Do You Become A Better Listener?

In this episode of the Mixed Emotions Podcast, Mihir Oka hosts Sachin Chitambaran, founder of Connect Hub and lead trainer at Samaritans Mumbai (Unkahee Foundation), a suicide prevention helpline.

Sachin discusses his lifelong career in mental health, emphasizing the importance of listening, breaking down biases, and understanding self-harm as more than just attention-seeking behavior.

He shares insights from his global experience, the training process for volunteers, the challenges during COVID-19, and common myths associated with mental health.

The podcast underscores the crucial need for empathy, proper training, and support systems in addressing mental health issues.

Sachin gets into the challenging topics of suicide prevention, nuances of running prevention helplines and the art of becoming a better listener.

Time Stamps

02:11 Intro

06:36 Let them Vent!

06:44 Offer a Listening Ear

10:29 Who is a Good Listener?

11:41 Are Children better Listeners?

13:04 How to Bring Self Awareness?

14:48 What does Suicide prevention Training Look Like?w

17:19 Training to prevent mental distress

18:35 How do you add Listening as a skill?

21:43 How to give feedback?

22:40 How many calls do you get?

25:19 Why is it anonymous?

28:12 What allows sharing!?

30:29 How do you select Volunteers?

32:02 Do you get Inappropriate Calls?

33:34 How do You Destress after calls

38:10 What happened in Covid?

39:39 How do you run a 24/7 Helpline

44:25 How do you Listen without Judgement?

47:05 We are not logical beings!

49:55 What is the illusion of Control?

52:27 Different forms of Self harm?

53:48 Myths

57:12 Labels of attention seeking

58:54 How do you unlearn?

01:01:35 There is no Moral High Ground!

01:02:53 We have made listening complicated

01:06:16 There is no privilege in doing this.

01:11:41 Becoming Self aware

01:12:53 Relationship building

Why This Matters:

The simple act of truly listening can be lifesaving.

This episode aims to equip our listeners with the knowledge to be there for others in their moments of greatest need.

Listener Advisory:

This episode contains discussions about suicide that some may find distressing.

If you're struggling, please reach out for help. You're not alone.

Suicide Prevention Helplines:

1. SamaritansMumbai: +91 84229 84528 / +91 84229 84529 / +91 84229 84530
2. AASRA: +91-9820466726
3. TISS - ICall: 022-2552111 / +91 52987821

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