How Croma Unboxed is using technology to help fill the gaps in mental health care.
Sounds of thunder and rain to lull you to sleep, postings on self-care, videos of beautiful room makeovers, and resting kittens during me-time breaks—social media provides a million ways to ease frazzled nerves until it falls short.
Anxiety, depression, sleep, and stress-related problems are on the rise.
According to the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015-16, 10.6% of Indian people suffer from mental illnesses. The poll also offered a bleak image of the country's inability to deal with the growing burden of mental disorders, describing current mental health services as 'poor, fragmented, and disorganized.'
There is an urgent scarcity of skilled mental health professionals. According to the NMHS, the availability of psychiatrists per lakh population in Madhya Pradesh was as low as 0.05, while in Kerala it was 1.2, well short of the WHO standard of 3 per lakh population. Nearly 150 million Indians required mental health services, but less than 30 million sought them.
According to a poll conducted in 2015-16, 10.6% of Indian people suffer from mental problems.
Following the epidemic, there has been a notable increase in acceptance and discussion of mental diseases. However, access to dependable mental health care has long been limited, owing to high costs and a lack of available specialists. According to statistics, India had just 3,372 registered clinical psychologists last year.
The scarcity of mental health professionals, along with the high expense of therapy, has prompted the development of various online apps and platforms in recent years. From AI chatbots and diagnostic tools to peer support groups and virtual reality (VR) solutions, these tech-driven products aim to change how mental health is understood and preserved in India.
Apps assemble
MindPeers, which describes itself as a mental strength platform, has created a digital tool called CogniArt to assist individuals in understanding where they stand in terms of their mental health through art.
"10-20% of individuals realize they need treatment; the rest don't. This is where CogniArt comes in," explains Kanika Agarwal, who created MindPeers in 2020 after experiencing severe anxiety episodes and a lengthy search for the proper therapist.
CogniArt can assess drawings—of a childhood memory or a dream house, for example—based on 30 distinct characteristics and notify the client about their condition in a more effective way than words alone. The platform also includes neuroscience games, pre-screening exams, and a team of psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists.
'Advanced AI companion' of Infiheal Healo is a melancholy, green-colored bot who is willing to assist. If you are experiencing work-related stress, Healo may recommend journaling and breathing exercises to help you deal.
A few minutes into the discussion, a 'personality assessment report' is created, and users may arrange a session with a psychologist (1.5 to 10 years of expertise) to dive deeper.
An in-person appointment with a therapist in a metro area might cost anywhere from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per hour, depending on the therapist's qualifications, years of experience, and the problem being treated. On a site like MindPeers, each session might cost between Rs 600 and 700.
Mohini Mehta, a 32-year-old research researcher, traveled to Sweden in the midst of the epidemic. She recalls it being a difficult time after losing a close family member back home in India, adjusting to a new nation, and dealing with great loneliness. That was when she discovered, "Online therapy is not that bad"; she had previously preferred in-person therapy.
"It was critical that I collaborate with someone who understands my cultural background better. When you are in difficulty, the last thing you want is for someone to understand where you are coming from. So the only alternative I had then was to attend online classes." She found MindPeers to be a good fit and joined the platform in early 2021.
A worthwhile complement.
Dr. Vishal Indla, psychiatrist at INDLAS Hospitals, believes that using virtual reality to treat diseases such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety has significant benefits.
Avika Mind Health, where Indla is a medical director, offers VR therapy that combines a relaxing module with an exposure response prevention (ERP) module. If a patient suffers from social anxiety, they will be virtually transported to a location such as a supermarket and then progressively exposed to increasing degrees of complexity, people, noise, and so on, with a voiceover in the local language to assist them in dealing with the stresses.
"Previously, this was all done in person, with the therapist having clients envision these scenarios. But today, with VR, there's no need for imagination; it's right in front of the patients, very realistic, with all the instructions, allowing them to gradually desensitize themselves to the fear," he explains.
Peer support is key to SoulUp's mental health platform services, making it simpler to locate and connect with someone who has been through a similar experience or is in the same boat.
There are one-on-one peer video calls in which the caller can speak with a suitable peer who has been verified and trained by SoulUp, as well as support groups in which five or six people dealing with the same challenge, such as going through a divorce or quitting smoking, come together to solve it together in the presence of a therapist.
On SoulUp, a one-on-one peer talk costs Rs 399-699, while a six-session support group program costs Rs 3,500.
"Most people associate mental health with mental illness and hence with treatment; nevertheless, the vast majority do not require it. The majority are dealing with real-life difficulties for which there is no clear answer, and they are trying to figure out what is feasible," says Punita Mittal, SoulUp cofounder.
Relationships account for about 40% of the problems that individuals between the ages of 25 and 45 experience, followed by mental illness, where people in treatment seek to connect with others like them, and concerns such as anger management and body image, she says.
According to Hansika Kapoor, a researcher and psychologist at Mumbai's Monk Prayogshala, peer support networks can establish a feeling of community around a "diagnosis." "It helps those with a mental health disorder understand that they are not alone, and they are not'making a big deal about something.'."
Employers are also joining up for these mental health applications. Given the high prevalence of workplace toxicity and friction caused by a multigenerational workforce, HR managers are seeking implementable solutions rather than simply marking the mental well-being box on their to-do list. Helping corporations "revisit their cultural framework to take psychological safety also into consideration" accounts for 70% of MindPeers' current business.
A chatbot that addresses mental health problems is not an idea that mental health professionals are likely to embrace just yet. "Many AI chatbots are built on massive language models that are trained on a corpus of linguistic data. According to Kapoor, it also depends on whether such huge language models can account for context and culture.
Dr. Indla, while wary about AI replacing a professional therapist, believes it can be effective in a supportive capacity, particularly in ensuring medication compliance—a lack of which might lead to a relapse.
The Avika app includes a compliance tracker that alerts the patient's caregiver and doctor if they miss a dosage. Other practical ways AI may help include reminding patients to fill out diary entries and do therapy-related homework, as well as recognizing any worrying signs from the patient.
The use of AI, VR, and internet technologies to augment mental healthcare may be just what the doctor ordered.