Can AI Lend a Hand to the Mental Health Crisis?
Solving the Mental Health Crisis that is Culminating Beneath the Surface
Solving the Mental Health Crisis that is Culminating Beneath the Surface
Mental Health is a serious issue in the world. It is one of the most overlooked yet prevalent diseases in our modern world, and it is growing at an alarming pace.
“Mental Health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” — WHO
Many issues are surrounding mental health, but the support system/care is facing two problems. One issue is the lack of mental health professionals, which doesn’t allow for timely support. The second issue is that there is volatility in the diagnostic process and quality of care.
Surprisingly, Artificial Intelligence solutions with the ability to understand context and emotion are starting to fill this gap.
Mental Health Timebomb in India
One of the countries suffering from a mental health crisis is India. The competition in India is fierce. For those who have seen 3 Idiots (a great movie, by the way), you were able to get a glimpse of the dysfunctional and severe mental pressures endured by college students in top-tier Universities.
The pressures are immense, coming from all angles—your family, friends, extended family, future work opportunities, etc. And it is continuous, always lingering by your side from when you are in early education to the workplace.
A study conducted by Assocham in 2015 concluded that 42.5% of employees in the Indian private sector are afflicted with general anxiety disorder or depression. That is almost half the working population!
Reasons for the high depression in the workplace are:
low pay
menial tasks that are mind-numbing
long-working hours leading to sleep deprivation (56% of workers sleep less than 6 hours)
strict work expectations
COVID’s impact
The pandemic has exacerbated the intense pressures.
India had one of the strictest lockdowns, and it has resulted in mass unemployment and paranoia.
The pandemic has instilled fear for your own employment, stress towards not contacting close peers, and fear of the pandemic virus. The mental bucket already filled with anxiety has been overflowed with the stress coming from COVID.
The Issue
Despite the crisis, talking about mental health in India is considered taboo. Silence is a virtue in Asian cultures, and bottling up your emotions is the natural course of action.
As a result, mental therapy is not acknowledged in India. However, there is greater adoption in U.S, Canada, and Europe, where medication, counseling, support networks, mental health programs are prominent.
Aside from culture, I also believe it is due to ruthless, cold logic. For corporations, even if the attrition rate is high, there is an ample amount of replacementsーthe working population of India is vast.
Therefore, in India, the support infrastructure for mental health is yet to be developed. WHO states that in India (per 100,000 population), there are psychiatrists (0.3), nurses (0.12), psychologists (0.07), and social workers (0.07), while the desirable number is anything above three psychiatrists and psychologists per 100,000 population.
Of 1.1mn active corporations, only 1,000 have some mental health support programs.
Famous Bollywood actors and actresses have garnered the courage to open up about their mental health. Sachin Tendulkar recently spoke up about his battle with anxiety 10~12 years of his career. Deepika Padukone, who has suffered from depression, launched a non-profit NGO to bring awareness to mental health in India.
Enter Wysa: AI Support for Mental Health
Wysa is a popular AI chatbot that has helped users with anxiety and stress disorders.
Originally, Wysa wanted to detect depression data from smartphone usage. However, they found out most users were using their Chatbot function as a safe haven to vent out. This surge in popularity has allowed them to focus on the chatbot function.
The chatbot is an AI Penguin, which listens to your issues empathetically and understands the context of your text ーhas over 100 different AI models and can recognize over 70 different emotion subtypes.
The user interacts with the Penguin and allows users to vent out, reflect, and learn more about themselves without the fear of judgment from other human beings.
“Research shows that people will open to AI three times faster than they do with a therapist. Our own data shows that people can complete a cognitive behavioural therapy exercise (that takes them three therapy sessions) in just about 10 minutes when they are talking to an AI bot.” — Wysa
Wysa also gives tools to help mental health. For example, it can automatically detect if somebody is about to commit suicide and escalate their issue to a health line.
The chatbot has gone global amassing 3 million users from 65 countries. Wysa also has plans for enterprises as companies usually don’t have ready-made tools for people with mental health disabilities. Wysa first scopes out the personality types in the workplace, launch a mental health calendar to drive engagement and give real-time analytics and insights to the managers to understand what exactly are the issues faced by employees.
As a result, Wysa has gotten traction from 20 enterprises, with a total reach of 500,000 employees.
What you can do
However, you don’t have to rely on AI. There are several easy steps that you can take to help boost your mental health daily.
Some simple measures are below:
Sleep well: You should sleep about 7 hours or more. I used to work in an MBB-consulting firm. So I know the importance of sleep.
Exercise: Even 20 minutes is fine. But daily consistency is critical.
Rest: Don’t be afraid or feel guilty to take a break.
Set up a getaway: puzzles, games, camping, whatever it is, find something you can take your mind off.
Eat well: I follow an 8–16 intermittent fasting schedule. It has worked wonders for my energy.
For people who need support, take the courage to reach out.
It is easy to lose control of your mind during the pandemic, so why not try downloading Wysa and talk about your mood?