JOIN USInfluencer trolled for offering 'love and awareness' sessions for Rs 1,500
Conversation around mental health has increased, especially, within urban India since the novel coronavirus disrupted normal lives. As people lose the agency to travel, socialise, or pay bills due to their employment status being uncertain, there have been several calls for better mental health facilities that can be accessed remotely.
Santoshi Shetty, an influencer with over 7 lakh followers on Instagram, recently stepped in and proposed to 'help' her followers by offering one-on-one sessions for Rs 1500 that would last an hour, in an initiative titled “flying cheese”. These sessions were to focus on “love and awareness” and to the process of “growing together”. The post, which has now been taken down, was attacked on several fronts.
While many found the blogger to be under-qualified to be offering mental-health services, others described her behaviour as 'opportunistic'. Several others pointed out that Shetty, who often takes exotic vacations, may not have the same problems as most of her followers. Amidst this, students pursuing psychology and counselling related degrees, detailed the years of training it would take them before they would be equipped with the skills to offer mental health services.
Why am I writing critical analysis day in and night , spending hours understanding the dsm , icd , differences between symptoms and residual symptoms when #SantoshiShetty just became a therapist because she has good energy , and made a IGTV about it.
— badgirlsupreme (@_badgirlsupreme) July 6, 2020
The anger on social media soon snowballed into ire towards social media influencers, in general. Shetty soon posted a response, clarifying her stand. She urged followers to “not target" bloggers or her friends in the industry for her actions.
Shetty hints that she never aimed to offer an alternative to the services provided by mental health professionals and says that her intention to “spread love is still flowing”.