express news service
They make games. They organize art classes and music therapy. On special days, there is even a puppy play session. Other times, they simply lend a sympathetic ear while you wait for your order to arrive after a long day at work. Launched in November 2021, ‘Your Sugar Daddy’ is a mental health cafe in Mohali, Punjab that offers de-stressing activities to its customers.
The bold name is sure to spark questions, but Angel D’Souza, the cafe’s 21-year-old founder and psychology student, takes it lightly, stating that the name just sounded unique. She says, “I know that my coffee efforts are like a drop in the ocean in the mental health space. However, I want to create a spark that ends the associated stigma.” Coffee is a pandemic baby. The rise of mental health issues and the negativity surrounding them made her aware of the need for a space that feels safe and comfortable.
According to a survey by the Psychiatric Society of India in 2020, the number of mental illness cases increased by 20 percent since the Covid-19 lockdown. Job loss, the economic slowdown, isolation and the rise in domestic abuse amid the pandemic are the reasons, the survey noted. “I have always wanted to help lonely or sad people. I have vivid memories of an eight-year-old me yearning to talk to that engineering student trying to kill himself in 3 Idiots,” adds D’Souza. In 2019, when he enrolled as a psychology student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, D’Souza faced mental health issues. Later, he had to get his degree online due to the pandemic. At that moment, she realized that we don’t talk openly about mental health because of the stigma that comes with it.
Cafe activities include bonfire nights, a “know thyself” contest, and a Stroop effect activity. The Stroop effect is the delay in reaction time between congruent and incongruent stimuli. The results have been used to create a psychological test that is used in clinical practice and research of brain processes. Guests can also participate in optical illusion games that help players better understand themselves.
D’Souza ran a cloud kitchen before opening the cafe. Online learning gave him plenty of time to think about his dream company that finally took shape late last year. The cafe also offers puppy therapy which costs around 500 rupees for a session lasting more than two hours. “Visitors are provided with mindfulness coloring sheets as part of our art therapy, after which is the color game, adapted from the Stroop effect. The cafe also has a variety of snack options, like a box of chocolate fondue, custom piñatas, and bowls of ramen, but with the added flavor called mental health.
.
