Mental health apps gain prominence amid pandemic

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, the mental health of many people has gone for a toss. A significant surge in the number of daily active users on digital mental health platforms, in the last few weeks, is an indication of the predicament.

The nature of interactions on these apps has also seen a shift from issues related to insomnia, depression, relationships pre-COVID-19, to concerns of health anxiety, social distancing and so on.

Wysa, a Bengaluru-based mental health and wellness app, saw a sharp spike in the number of people using the anxiety and isolation support tool packs that the platform offers. Jo Aggarwal, Founder, Wysa revealed that usually the maximum number of people using these tool packs is around 30,000, which has now surged to around 100,000, within the last 10 days.

“Earlier, low energy, depression, relationship issues and sleep were the top topics on Wysa. These have now been replaced by health anxiety, feelings of isolation and both financial and social implications of lockdowns,” Aggarwal explained.

“We are also seeing more people booking for therapy sessions and more sessions being booked per person. One in four of our therapy clients booked multiple sessions a week to discuss anxiety around COVID-19 and quarantine,” she said.

Online consultation app Mfine, which used to do around 400-500 mental health related consultations per month, has seen an increase of 30% in the segment.

In parallel to this, IWill therapy app by epsyclinic, that used to conduct around 300-400 ‘free chat sessions’ on a daily basis, is managing over 600 sessions now. Shipra Dawar, CEO and Head Innovation, IWill, said there has been an unprecedented increase in the last 10 days. The paid therapy sessions, on the other hand, are seeing a spike of 40-50 new programs every week, Dawar said.

Since most industries are working at a suboptimal level, there’s steep financial anxiety, and confusion related to management from work from home. “About 20% of people are professionals, who are struggling with the anxiety of what the future holds,” she said.

VentAllOut, a platform for people to express their emotions anonymously, has seen a 17% to 20% traffic increase in a month with 7% growth in the last one week alone.

Sumit Mittal, Founder, VentAllOut said, “We are seeing more posts and comments on topics like work from home, dealing with new work life and a change in lifestyle.”