Halloween is done and the year-end holidays are on the horizon. In the past, this has been a difficult time for some in the foreign community, as they are away from their families. With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, even more people may be at risk of depression and anxiety.
This is where TELL comes in. The service launched in Japan in 1973 as an English-language counseling hotline, and has since grown to cover more than just the English-speaking community, with mental health clinics, internet counseling and outreach programs that aim to raise awareness about mental health in Japanese society as a whole.
This year has arguably provided the organization with its greatest test to date — the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world. TELL’s director, Vickie Skorji, says that the service has seen an unprecedented surge in calls to its lifeline during the pandemic..