Resources for when it's tough.
Short, practical articles for the moments anxiety, panic or overthinking show up. Read them before you need them, or in the middle of one.
In a crisis, call now
- Tele-MANAS: 14416 (free, 24/7, in your language)
- iCall: 9152987821
- Vandrevala Foundation: 1860-2662-345
Reading for exam season and beyond
Exam anxiety: how to calm down before a paper.
Why your brain freezes the night before a paper, and three things you can do in the next ten minutes to settle.
Read · 4 minPanic attack help. The first five minutes.
What is happening in your body, and a five-minute plan to ride it out. It always peaks and passes.
Read · 4 minThe 2am spiral. How to talk yourself down.
Hostel rooms, scrolling at midnight, and the loop of overthinking. A gentle script for talking yourself down.
Read · 5 minPlacement panic: how to steady yourself before you walk in.
Group discussions, interviews, that one company everyone wants. Slow your heart rate before you walk in.
Read · 5 minHomesick at hostel: the first semester ache nobody talks about.
The first semester quiet ache nobody talks about. Tiny rituals that make a new room feel like yours.
Read · 4 minAnxiety symptoms in students: the early signs, and what actually helps.
Tight chest, 3 a.m. wake-ups, replying to no one. The early signs of anxiety in student life, and what actually helps.
Read · 6 minFor educators and counsellors
Spotting anxiety in the classroom
The quiet signs teachers see first — withdrawal, missed deadlines, sudden grade drops — and what to do next.
1 in 4 Indian students
What recent NCERT and Lancet data tells us about adolescent mental health in India, and why pre-therapy support matters.
Building a campus support stack
Counsellor, peer-leaders, helpline, pre-therapy. How the layers fit together for a student who is struggling.
Talking to parents about mental health
Scripts and framing for parent-teacher meetings when stigma gets in the way of getting a child help.
Crisis protocol for schools
A simple, printable flow for when a student says something concerning. Who calls who, and when.
Pre-therapy vs counselling
What pre-therapy support is, what it isn't, and how it sits alongside the work your school counsellor already does.
itsokay is for panic and anxiety. Some things need a different team.
Miko is here for the moments your chest tightens, your thoughts race, or you cannot sleep. That is what we are built for, and we do it well.
If what you are carrying is something else — ongoing depression, trauma, abuse or violence at home, eating concerns, substance use, or thoughts of hurting yourself — please take it to the people trained for it. That is not us, and telling you otherwise would not be honest.
Where to go instead:
- Your campus or school counsellor — most colleges have one, and it is free.
- A qualified therapist or psychiatrist, in person or online.
- Tele-MANAS on 14416 — free, 24/7, in your language.
- One adult you trust — a parent, a warden, a teacher, an older cousin.
Asking somewhere else is not failing. It is you getting the right help, faster. Come back to Miko any time you just need to breathe.