World Mental Health Day 2022: Indian Startups Conquering It Right

Mental health problems have been growing rapidly over the last few decades. The pandemic and lockdown were the time that contributed to bring the topic out of the closet. Humans, all across the globe, embrace VUCA times as looming uncertainty impacted people’s mental well-being badly. A recent study states that around 80 per cent of the Indian workforce has reported mental health issues over the past year. The National Mental Health survey found that close to 14 per cent of India’s population required active mental health interventions. 

Dedicated Startups: Making It Possible

With the importance of mental health paramount across companies and organisations, founders like these came forward with disruptive ideas and introduces their ventures. 

Mimblu, co-founded by Shevantika Nanda is an asynchronous text-based app for mental health care that helps users connect with the right professional therapist. It allows users to receive therapy via texting, sharing voice notes or scheduling video calls with their therapist at their convenience over an app. 

Wysa is an AI-based platform, co-founded by Ramkant Vempati which offers emotionally intelligent bots with evidence-based therapeutic techniques, empathetic listening and anonymous help via chat. 

Gurugram-based Lissun, co-founded by Tarun Gupta offers a platform for mental health by focusing on delivering preventive care by productising or augmenting psychotherapies, in-house therapists and a self-help library.

Founded by Aakriti Joanna, Kaha Mind is a counselling platform that offers mental health help for both individuals as well as companies. The main idea behind this is to connect users with mental health professionals and conduct virtual counselling sessions. 

Juno Clinic co-founded by Davesh Manocha in 2016, offers virtual therapy via in-house psychiatrists and therapists. It also has three physical clinics in Mumbai where people can seek face-to-face psychiatric care. 

Effective Actionable Steps

With prominent trends such as The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting seeping in, professionals are becoming aware of what they require from their leaders and company policies. To help employees combat mental health challenges, business leaders have to prioritise building strategies that promote workplace mental well-being. Creating awareness, maintaining happy and fun-filled work culture for people to be vulnerable, encouraging conversations and compassionate leadership can be some of the practical actions. 

Alexander Kuruvilla, Chief Healthcare Strategy Officer, Practo, said, ”While the incidence of mental health issues in the country is increasing, the silver lining is that people are recognizing the importance of keeping the mind healthy and seeking help”.

Gone are the days when startups were considered only as working factories compromising people's wellness. Startups are launching unique initiatives and practices centric on employees’ mental wellness. 

One of the ecommerce startups, Meesho announced an 11-day company-wide ’Reset and Recharge’ break for (meeshoites) its employees, starting from October 22 to November 1, 2022. Co-founder, Sanjeev Barnwal said “The initiative has been announced for the second consecutive year in a row to keep a healthy work-life balance. Ashish Kumar Singh, Chief Human Resources Officer, Meesho, said, “Building a great company culture requires one to acknowledge that work-life balance, rest and rejuvenation are key to employee well-being. Such progressive policies have helped augment our employee centricity and industry-leading retention rates.”

Earlier this year, Tide partnered with Plumm, a holistic mental health services provider to prioritise its employee well-being. It offered them and one family member of each employee free access to the platform for chatting with counsellors, taking one-on-one video therapy sessions, engage with self-educative courses and meditation. 

Theme For Mental Health Day 2022

While it was a taboo, nowadays people have become self-aware and sensitive towards mental health. The World Health Organisation dedicated October 10 of every year to rekindle efforts, raise awareness against social stigma, protect and improve mental health across the globe. The theme for the year 2022 is ‘Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority’

As the pandemic has accentuated mental health problems, a mental health programme will be launched to improve the access to quality mental health counselling. The government of India is preparing to launch a National Tele-Mental Health Programme and a toll-free helpline number soon. The NTMHP was first announced by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2022-23. 

According to WHO, the economic loss due to mental health conditions, between 2012-2030, is estimated to be USD 1.03 trillion globally. Also, a recent study shows that India’s leading integrated healthcare companies have witnessed a steady increase in in-person consultations for mental health with a 44 per cent increase YoY. This is undeniably strong evidence of self-awareness and concern. Let's wish and work for a more aware and healthier population.