More People Take Help From Mental Health Helpline
One of these callers in his late 30s, who was struggling to clear the loan, sought guidance to come out of the issue
Hyderabad: Students, youngsters, and mid-age persons are seeking assistance from 14414, the mental health support helpline Tele-MANAS, to take their day-to-day or life’s big decisions, indicating a growing inability of people to take even small decisions.
According to Tele-MANAS, a 24/7 mental health support helpline of the Central government, callers are worried about not completing syllabus, financial matters and marital disputes.
One of these callers in his late 30s, who was struggling to clear the loan, sought guidance to come out of the issue.
According to psychologists, the problem might sound small, but for some people it makes their life difficult as their brain works like a search engine with no result in sight.
“Life is a series of decisions. But for some, making even small decisions feels harder than climbing Mount Everest. This behaviour is called decision paralysis,” said Dr Jawaharlal Nehru P., a behaviour analyst and senior psychologist.
He said “even to buy a simple shirt, some people visit 10 shops or browse a hundred websites, check ratings. No matter what they choose, they have doubts that maybe something else is better that doesn't make them satisfied. Over time, such people completely lose their self-confidence and see themselves as an incompetent person.”
According to psychologists, sometimes an individual's brain gets confused when there are too many options (the paradox of choice) to choose from. In modern times, information overload causes the brain to lose the energy needed to make decisions.
Whatever is chosen, the fear of missing out (FOMO) on other options haunts the person. This leads to more stress than happiness at every stage. This leads to missing many opportunities in life and damages self-confidence, leading to experiencing severe anxiety.
Dr Nehri suggested, for such individuals, some psychological strategies can be provided through counselling sessions, and they should be made to practice making small decisions like what to eat or what to wear within two minutes.
This helps their brain get used to making decisions. Teaching them to stop searching for the perfect decision and instead adopt a "good enough" mindset, using the 10-10-10 rule. A framework for decision-making, focusing on long-term impact by asking how a choice will feel in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.