The pandemic-induced lockdowns were a difficult time for many, as being confined indoors led to aggravation of mental health issues in the form of loneliness, stress, anxiety, depression and grief. According to a study in the medical journal The Lancet, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an increase of 25.6% and 27.6% in cases of anxiety and depression.
Taking note, the Union Budget for 2022 presented by the Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, on February 1, announced the launch of the National Tele Mental Health program, aimed at providing access to mental health care and counseling services from quality throughout the country.
The program involves establishing 23 telemental health centerswith the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore as the hub.
The announcement was a ray of hope for many startups operating in this space, like many founders of tech-enabled healthcare companies. I told YourStory before which was a good step to raise awareness.
To relieve mental health problems, Your history has curated a list of six startups that have been helping people deal with their mental health issues without shame.
Wysa
Founded in 2015 by Jo Aggarwal Y Ramakant Vempati, Bengaluru-settled down offers AI-powered mental health support available to both individuals and through employer benefit programs. The startup helps cope with stress, depression, and anxiety with the help of an “emotionally intelligent” bot that uses evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT), meditation, breathing and mindfulness exercises, as well as microactions, to help users build mental resilience.
For employers, Wysa offers a workplace solution that meets the full spectrum of mental health needs. This solution integrates with existing company benefits, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs) or external healthcare provider networks, and can be customized based on geography or cohort.
To date, Wysa claims to have impacted 10 million lives, with 3.5 million active users. The startup has raised a total of around $10 million in funding.
Its app is available for both Android and iOS users, and it has users in more than 65 countries.
AUMHUM
Started in December 2020 by Anumeha Y pandey aviral, BengaluruAUMHUM is a vernacular mental wellness startup that helps working professionals focus, relax, and navigate the uncertainties of their work lives.
With more than half of its user base outside of India, the startup offers an app for Android and iOS users. Available in 30 languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Russian, and Spanish, the app claims to have helped working professionals across the country and the world deal with the anxieties of remote work by partnering with doctors, psychiatrists, therapists, individuals, and institutional mentors, including meditation institutes and yoga schools.
Aviral Pandey, Co-Founder and CEO of AUMHUMHe says,
“No one has the bandwidth to treat mental wellness as something separate to focus on. Your everyday stuff needs to become more mental wellness driven. We’re doing just that for you.”
AUMHUM is a subscription service with over 270,000 users in India, Russia, Europe and the US, enabled through partnerships with 120 think tanks and individuals. It offers subscription plans for individuals (Rs 1,499 per year) and businesses. The startup’s medical board is made up of medical mental health experts from India, Australia, and the US. It has also completed its undisclosed amount of seed funding round.
Work in progress
Started in August 2020 by a counseling psychologist Medha Saharya, DelhiWork in Progress is a mental health support startup.
“We host weekly events at nominal prices on mental health and wellness topics. Topics are positive mental health topics such as resilience, self-care, identity, etc. Every month there is a new theme. We keep the group size small, with a maximum of eight to 10 people. We provide a safe space for everyone to share their lived experiences and personal narratives,” says founder Medha.
“Our conversations feature music, art, game-based activities as a form of expression and reflection at our ‘community events.’ The duration is 90 minutes and the sessions are held through Zoom. Once a month, we host an ‘open mic’ where people are free to share any form of art and self-expression, such as poetry, mandala art, improvisation, playing an instrument or sharing a story,” he adds.
Open mics are ‘pay what you can’ priced with no free minimum buy-in. “We also organize ‘Grounding Circles’ where we invite psychologists to facilitate short relaxation exercises to help people unwind and relax their minds and bodies at the end of a long day. We also have community-curated Spotify playlists open to everyone,” says Medha.
The started startup targets people between the ages of 20 and 50. He claims to have received more than 300 people at his events.
The firm says it is hosting online events for people in India, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, the United Kingdom and South Korea. Also, offline events are planned in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
“Users sign up for community events and pay between 300 and 500 rupees for a 90-minute session. Some events have a ‘pay what you can’ price. Also, we offer student discounts,” says Medha.
In the future, the startup plans to host offline events in more cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata, among others. While he continues to invite other psychologists to collaborate, he is also collaborating with yoga practitioners, physical trainers, doctors, and dancers, etc. to provide sessions on different domains of health and wellness.
mom’s belief
Launched in 2018 by nitin bindlish, gurugramMom’s Belief is a research and innovation-driven provider of holistic care for children with emotional intelligence and developmental needs. The startup also supports parents, professionals and caregivers of children with special needs such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, learning disability, intellectual disability or any other developmental delay.
Mom’s Belief, which also operates in Singapore, aims to touch and improve the lives of more than one million children in the next 10 years.
The startup has enrolled more than 20,000 mothers so far, with more than 100 integrated centers across India. The startup has a team of more than 750 professionals.
The team of more than 750 members says that all of its programs and interventions have been designed with the emotional intelligence and health of all children (with regular and special needs) between the age group of two to 17 in mind.
emotionally.in
Founded in 2020 by anita belani, Amit Bose, Rome Kumar Y Lina Bija, mumbai-based Emotionally focuses on online therapy, counseling, coaching, and emotional health training.
“The mental health pandemic is what we need to worry about going forward. The fear, stigma and apprehension associated with these issues have caused many affected people to not get the support they need. Emotionally it was created so that we could provide access to quality mental health services. health services in a structured way,” says co-founder Anita.
The startup claims that it has helped more than 15,000 people through its services and has multiple marquee businesses as clients.
Emotionally, it currently has a team of 40 doctors. The team is made up of veteran psychologists, psychiatrists, coaches, counselors, and business and technology leaders. It serves corporations, individuals, schools, universities and other organizations.
“We plan to launch an app-based solution that is holistic but has emotional health support as its foundation,” adds Anita.
lissun
Founded in August 2021 by Krishna Veer Singh Y tarun guptaLissun is a mental health startup based on an Android app.
The Gurugram-based startup envisions providing psychological support to people in all aspects of their daily lives. He also wants to work in the direction of eliminating stigma and lack of awareness among people.
Provides services such as emotion management, counseling and therapy, post-COVID-19 mental health, meditation, stress reduction, IVF counseling and therapy, cancer patient support, and women’s mental health support with the help of their team of psychologists and psychiatrists.
The platform offers self-diagnosis through technological tools and then provides the necessary treatment to patients.
The brand currently claims to perform 20 to 50 therapies per week and aims to extend that to 1,000 therapies per month in this fiscal year.
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