HYDERABAD, FEB. 21. The spate of farmers' suicides in Andhra Pradesh has prompted a voluntary organisation here to experiment a psychiatric approach to the issue through counselling, medical treatment and a free helpline for tillers.

The Hyderabad-based organisation, Psychiatric Community Health and Education (PSYCHE), which works in the area of community mental health services, awareness and training, is planning to get in touch with beleaguered farmers through farmers' clubs, pesticide dealers, peasant associations and even banks to tackle the problem with a psychiatrist's stethoscope.

Volunteer network
The PSYCHE president, P. Raghurami Reddy, told that the first priority would be a network of volunteers. This began on Sunday in Hyderabad when the organisation managed to get 24 members of a farmers' club in Mahbubnagar through the local Sangameswara Grameena Bank. The volunteers were given a day's training on rural empowerment for prevention and suicides and alcohol de-addiction. These farmers will now form the backbone of damage control exercises in Mahbubnagar.

High-risk group
According to Dr. Reddy, farmers in Andhra Pradesh, courtesy socio-economic reasons to a certain extent, fall in a high-risk group prone to suicides. Depression and alcoholism were fuelling their minds, already tense with crop failures and piling notices from creditors.

"We are planning to calm them through anti-depressant drugs like Clonazepam and Fluoxetin, administered in different doses, following which counselling will be undertaken. Once our network is formed, our volunteers will be handing around our phone number so that counselling can be done from here," says Dr. Reddy.

The same bracket of medicines will be used to tackle the rampant alcoholism. The help of women in villages, through counselling sessions, will also be utilised for this purpose.

Expansion plan
PYSCHE proposes to expand its network through the Federation of Farmers' Association, who will organise the next training session for a bigger group of farmers in Mahbubnagar, before fanning out to Nizamabad, Anantapur and other areas where suicides were reported in large numbers last year, Dr. Reddy added.

PSYCHE's free helpline, 040-24752321, is presently accessible for the farmers from 3.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. daily.