Problem Areas
- Scarcity of Mental Health Specialists - Particularly in rural areas
- limited availability of mental health services,
- limited access to mental health services,
- the stigma associated with mental illnesses
- Limited awareness and knowledge about mental health.
- According to the Global Burden of Disease study, around 200 million people in India were suffering from mental illness in 2017 and about half of them suffer from anxiety or depressive disorders. (Sagar et al. 2020)
- Worldwide, India accounts for around one-fourth of all male suicides and more than one-third of female suicides (India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Suicide Collaborators 2018).
- As per National Mental Health Survey 2015-2016, around 10% of adults meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental health condition(Murthy 2017; Patel and Balaji 2020).
- Suicide has been the leading cause of death among young people in India(Patel et al. 2012; Mascarenhas 2016).
- the inability of families to care for their mentally ill members appears to be the main contributory factor to the mental health burden.
Opportunities
The boom in internet access and telecommunications provide an apt opportunity for India to fill the enormous gap that exists in the provision of mental healthcare services
1. Provide Mental Health practitioners from India and make healthcare more accessible internationally.
2. Regularising the Mental health Industry
3. There exists an opportunity to generate discourse on the integration of innovations to improve mental health services within primary healthcare practices through the District Mental Health Programme.
4. Research into BioTech with India’s history of Ayurveda. ([mindmed.co/](mindmed.co/))
5. Mental health organizations are curated according to age group.
6. A digital mental health assistant in India. ([springhealth.com/](springhealth.com/))
7. Trauma relief and Mental Support Groups ([timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...](timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...)
Existing Infrastructure
The boom in internet access and telecommunications provide an apt opportunity for India to fill the enormous gap that exists in the provision of mental healthcare services. Digital technologies can provide a crucial platform for scaling up mental healthcare in India. Some of the digital tools that are being explored to improve mental health include telepsychiatry, teleconsultation, mental health apps and games, digital assessment, digital therapeutic approaches, virtual training, and clinical support, personal health trackers, social media websites, online peer support forums, meditation, and mental wellness apps and many more(Roland et al. 2020).
Mental Health innovations can be broadly summarised into 5 categories:
(1) quality improvement mental health programs;
(2) community-based mental health programs;
(3) non-specialist mental health programs,
(4) mobile-technology based mental health programs,
(5) tele-mental health programs.
The George Institute for Global Health's SMART Mental Health program-a digital mental health application for screening, management, referral, and treatment of depression, stress, and suicidal risk in rural patients through a primary health center in Andhra Pradesh revealed positive treatment outcomes. Another remarkable program is the use of mobile technology by non-specialist community mental health workers for screening, management, and referral services in Gujarat significantly reduced the cost of service delivery. Digital technology-based mental health interventions (diagnosis, treatment, and prevention) with online, text messaging, and telephone support have promising outcomes in low-resource settings. Mobile technology can play an important role in scaling up and integrating mental health services with the primary health center.
Some of the digital tools that are being explored to improve mental health include telepsychiatry, teleconsultation, mental health apps and games, digital assessment, digital therapeutic approaches, virtual training and clinical support, personal health trackers, social media websites, online peer support forums, meditation, and mental wellness apps, and many more.
Startups to look out for in the Mental Health Space
1. Rocket Health
2. Inner Hour - MINDCRESCENT WELLNESS VENTURES PRIVATE LIMITED
3. Trijog
4. ePsyclinic
5. YourDOST
6. Wysa
7. TalktoAngel
8. Now and Me
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