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🧠
600+
People
Counselled

The Invisible Crisis
in Our Villages

India loses more farmers to suicide than any other occupational group. Rural youth face crushing exam pressure with no support system. Women in domestic stress have nowhere to turn. Elders experience profound grief and isolation. And over all of this sits a brutal stigma — mental illness is weakness, talking about feelings is shameful, seeking help is unthinkable.

Rural Tamil Nadu is in a mental health crisis that no one is talking about loudly enough. The Kallakurichi region has experienced farmer distress, youth mental health emergencies, and domestic violence-related trauma at alarming rates — yet accessible, culturally sensitive, affordable mental health support is almost non-existent in villages.

Sengodu Foundation's Mental Health & Awareness Program addresses this gap with community-based counselling, stigma reduction campaigns, peer support groups, farmer mental wellness initiatives, and emergency referral pathways — bringing mental health care out of city hospitals and into the villages where it is most urgently needed.

🧠 Counselling 👨‍🌾 Farmer Wellness 🎓 Youth Mental Health 👩 Women's Support 🗣️ Stigma Reduction 🚨 Crisis Response
📞
Need immediate mental health support?

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call iCall: 9152987821 or Vandrevala Foundation: 1860-2662-345 (24/7, free, Tamil available). Sengodu Foundation also maintains a local support referral line — call +91 93605 13248.

Explore Programs Get Support

Breaking Stigma,
Building Resilience

Measuring impact in the most critical wellbeing domain — the mind.

50+
Awareness Camps
Community mental health awareness sessions reducing stigma and encouraging help-seeking behaviour across Tamil Nadu villages.
300+
Farmers Supported
Farmers facing debt stress, crop failure anxiety, and suicidal thoughts reached through dedicated farmer mental wellness initiatives.
200+
Youth Reached
School and college students supported through exam stress management, career anxiety counselling, and peer support groups.
80%
Report Reduced Stigma
120+
Women in Support Groups
35+
Villages Reached
10+
Partner Counsellors

A Whole-Community Approach to Mental Wellness

Culturally sensitive, accessible mental health support designed for rural Tamil Nadu — not adapted from urban models.

🧠

Community Counselling

Free counselling sessions by trained counsellors and clinical psychologists conducted in village-level camps and private sessions — addressing depression, anxiety, grief, relationship stress, and trauma in a culturally sensitive manner.

  • Individual counselling sessions in village settings
  • Group therapy and peer support circles
  • Bilingual sessions in Tamil and English
  • Referral to government psychiatric services for severe cases
👨‍🌾

Farmer Mental Wellness

Dedicated support for farmers — Tamil Nadu's most at-risk group — addressing debt stress, crop failure anxiety, and the unique psychological pressures of agricultural livelihoods in an unpredictable climate and market.

  • Farmer stress assessment camps in villages
  • Peer farmer support groups and sharing circles
  • Financial stress management and debt counselling
  • Emergency crisis intervention and referral
🎓

Youth & Student Wellness

School and college students in rural Tamil Nadu face enormous exam pressure, career anxiety, and social media stress with almost no support structure. We bring mental wellness education and counselling directly to schools.

  • In-school mental wellness workshops
  • Exam stress and anxiety management sessions
  • Anti-bullying and peer relationship support
  • Career anxiety and life skills counselling
👩

Women's Mental Health Support

Rural women experience unique mental health burdens — domestic stress, financial dependency, reproductive health anxiety, and the psychological toll of being the household's emotional anchor with no space for their own struggles.

  • Women-only safe counselling spaces
  • Domestic stress and relationship counselling
  • Post-partum depression awareness and support
  • Domestic violence trauma counselling and referral
🗣️

Stigma Reduction Campaigns

The most significant barrier to mental health care in rural India is stigma. Our community awareness campaigns, cultural events, and local leader engagement normalise help-seeking and reframe mental health as a medical — not moral — issue.

  • Community awareness rallies and street plays
  • Village leader and religious leader engagement
  • School mental health week programs
  • Trained mental health first aiders in each village
🚨

Crisis Response & Referral

When someone is in acute mental health crisis, every minute matters. Our trained field team and referral network provide rapid crisis response, safety planning, and connection to emergency psychiatric services for individuals in immediate danger.

  • 24-hour crisis response coordination
  • Safety planning for individuals at risk
  • Referral to iCall, Vandrevala, and NIMHANS services
  • Family support and post-crisis follow-up

How We Build Rural Mental Health Support

01
🤲

Trust & Presence

Building trust in communities where mental health is deeply stigmatised — through consistent presence, community events, and partnering with trusted local leaders before any clinical work begins.

02
🗣️

Reduce Stigma First

Awareness campaigns that reframe mental health as a medical condition — not weakness or spiritual failure — creating the community permission for individuals to seek and receive help without shame.

03
🧠

Provide Care

Culturally sensitive, Tamil-language counselling delivered at village level — not requiring individuals to travel to city hospitals — removing every practical and social barrier to accessing support.

04
🏗️

Build Capacity

Training village-level mental health first aiders, community support groups, and school teachers — building a sustainable grassroots mental health support infrastructure that doesn't depend solely on our team.

When Someone Listens,
Everything Changes

Stories shared with permission to inspire others to seek support.

"

After three failed harvests, I didn't want to wake up in the mornings. I thought my family would be better off without me. The foundation counsellor came to my village and I spoke to him for the first time about what I was feeling. That one conversation gave me a reason to fight again.

A

Arumugam V.

Farmer, Kallakurichi (shared with permission)

"

I failed my class 12 exams and I felt my whole future was over. My parents were angry, my friends moved on, and I had no one to talk to. The foundation's counsellor at my school helped me understand that one exam result doesn't define a life. I passed on my second attempt and now I'm in college.

D

Deepika R., 19

Student, Government Higher Secondary School, Kallakurichi

"

As a village health worker, I used to not know what to do when someone came to me crying. After the mental health first aid training from Sengodu Foundation, I now know how to listen, how to assess crisis, and who to refer to. I've helped five families in my village this year alone.

N

Nirmala S.

ASHA Health Worker, Trained Mental Health First Aider

More Ways to Support Mental Health

💝

Fund Counselling

Sponsor counselling sessions for farmers, youth, or women who cannot access or afford mental health support in rural Tamil Nadu.

  • ₹1,000 funds one counselling session
  • ₹5,000 runs one village awareness camp
  • ₹20,000 deploys a counsellor for one month
  • ₹1,00,000 establishes a village mental wellness hub
Fund Mental Health
🧠

Volunteer as Counsellor

Are you a licensed psychologist, counsellor, or trained social worker? Your expertise can transform lives in rural Tamil Nadu. Weekend and remote volunteering available.

  • Village counselling camp facilitation
  • Mental health first aid training delivery
  • School mental wellness workshop facilitation
  • Remote tele-counselling for rural beneficiaries
Volunteer Your Skills
🏢

CSR Mental Health Programs

Mental health is an emerging CSR priority with strong employee resonance. Partner with us to run branded mental wellness programs in rural Tamil Nadu with measurable community impact.

  • Farmer mental health camp sponsorship
  • School mental wellness program funding
  • Counsellor training and certification support
  • SDG 3 (Good Health & Wellbeing) CSR documentation
CSR Partnership

No One Should Suffer in Silence

Mental health is not a luxury. It is the foundation of everything — work, family, community, and life itself. Help us make compassionate mental health support accessible to every rural Tamil Nadu community that needs it.

Support Mental Wellness Today