About Thanal

THANAL, a Suicide Prevention Centre, a non-governmental, charitable organization based in Kozhikode, was formed in the year 2001 by the Calicut chapter of the Indian Medical Association. DR. PN Sureshkumar, an eminent psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry in KMCT Medical College is the Chairman and Dr.A K Abdul Khader, Professor and Head of the Department of Pulmonology, KMCT Medical College is the Secretary and Dr.M.G. Vijayakumar is our Treasurer.

Since its inception, THANAL has been, apart from providing emotional support to thousands of disturbed minds, striving to create awareness among the various sections of the society about suicides and suicide prevention. We value giving a person the opportunity to explore feelings which can cause distress, the importance of being listened to, in confidence, anonymously, without prejudice and we value that a person has the fundamental decision about their own life.

Through our centre at Kozhikode we provide ventilation facility for the emotionally stressed and disturbed individuals i.e. the individuals can visit, phone and write to us about their problems and trained volunteers help them reduce the stress from 10 am to 6 pm 7 days a week.

THANAL is an affiliated member of Befrienders India, which is the national unit of Befrienders Worldwide, a global organization engaged in suicide prevention activities. As a part of our continuing efforts to improve our services and to have effective national and international coordination and cooperation in our activities, Thanal hosted Befrienders India's 17th National conference as South Asian Conference on 20 th , 21 st and 22 nd of November 2015.

As part of expansion, we created an Outreach Wing (Punarjani) for the emotional support of survivors of victims. We meet them at their house and befriend them. We help people come to terms with their grief and pain in their own way and move forward in their lives positively and productively. We conduct awareness programme with the help and support of Kudumbasree, Residential Associations, educational authorities, social workers, Janamaithree Police, Orphanage authorities and Jail authorities.

At this juncture, we adore with profound gratitude, the whole hearted support we have been receiving from benevolent donors and other helpful members of the society.