Current state of mental health in India

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the life of many individuals in a direct or indirect way. As of 17th July 2021, there were 4,13,000 fatalities due to pandemic in India, along with this a major part of the population was affected by issues such as the inadequate medical facilities, financial slump, migration of workers, domestic abuse, among others. However, a major area of concern that was often left out during this pandemic was deteriorating mental well-being.

Woefully, lack of awareness regarding psychological issues and dearth of psychologists has kept a large number of patients from getting medical assistance. Like its offline ally, online counseling is not prevalent in India as for many people involved in therapy; especially those with a conservative family, the lack of space and privacy at home can become a barrier. In addition to this, hacking and data breaches have added big concerns over this method.

Importance of mental wellbeing apps

Post COVID, people are becoming aware of the importance of mental wellbeing especially due to the work from home routines. Individuals, majorly in the Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities are looking for ways to prevent the onset or treat mental issues. As a result, the demand for free and paid mental health resources is on the rise.

For instance, the ‘Sadhguru’ app by Isha Foundation has garnered 4 million users since its inception in 2018 of which 32% are abroad. Its number of downloads increased by 44% since Covid-19 hit countries globally.

‘Innerhour’, started by Amit Malik has seen exponential growth with 700,000 downloads so far. Its revenue and monthly user base have shot up 2X to 3X in India ever since the pandemic started.

Meditation apps such as ‘Calm’, ‘Headspace’ and ‘Tide’ promote mental well-being and can help people in being productive and having better concentration span. Meditation is not new notion to India and the country is known to have laid down the pillars for spiritual living. However, these apps make it easy to learn and perfect the skill. Notably, some of these apps are helping people to make these practices a part and parcel of their lives. Similar to the global trajectory, India has followed the same course and has witnessed an increase in the number of downloads and usage of mental wellbeing apps. Also, Indian meditation apps are increasingly becoming popular abroad due to the better level awareness regarding mental health.

Nowadays, fitness is not only about abs and muscles – it includes both mind and body. Mind.Fit, the yoga chain from Cult.Fit, markets itself on being a place to overcome stress, depression for a happier life and to reach overall wellness goals. Due to the closure of gyms during pandemic, the ‘mind fit’ has seen a rise in its popularity as it allows users to instill the practices into their everyday life while being at the comfort of their home. This segment has seen a boom during the pandemic where users across age-groups are looking for methods and practices to manage their mental wellbeing through these online classes. The app makers offer a variety of alternatives to hand-pick, from guided meditation to Vipassana to Chakra Meditation and others.

Future scenario

The rapid adoption of smartphones, coupled with a significant rise in the number of mobile users and internet subscribers have propelled the growth of the mental wellbeing apps market in India. Also, it has strengthened its position in the global digital economy with a steep rise in the number of mobile subscribers and internet users in the country. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications Associations (GSMA), the penetration rate of mobile connection is projected to rise from 78% in 2019 to 85% by 2025.

The WHO reports that mental health problems cause a burden equivalent to 2443 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100,000 people, and suicide rate of 21.1 per 100,000. The organization believes that India will incur a loss of around $1.03 trillion between 2012-2030.

Digital mental wellbeing apps can possibly help users improve their emotional IQ. Besides they will play a significant role in enhancing the access and affordability in India. The nation has an extreme deficiency of psychological experts and surprisingly those qualified are concentrated in the significant urban areas. Under such a situation, smartphone-based applications will help patients across India to look after their mental health.

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