When mental health advice is just a Reel away

It started with a breakup and a Reel. Two weeks after her long-term relationship ended, 24-year-old Ananya, a Mumbai-based social media marketer, stumbled across an Instagram video titled "If they left, it was a trauma bond." The creator, a charismatic "healing coach" with no clinical qualifications, explained how emotionally unavailable partners get us "addicted" to their inconsistency. It resonated deeply. Ananya watched the Reel five times, shared it with friends, and signed up for a journaling course linked in the bio. In a matter of weeks, she had mapped her childhood wounds, diagnosed her attachment style, and labeled her ex as a narcissist. All of this without ever speaking to a licensed therapist.

- Divya Naik

"It made sense in a way nothing else had," Ananya says. "I felt seen. I finally had the language for what I'd gone through." In a different time, she might have spoken to a professional. But in 2025, when mental health content floods Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, Ananya had already found her answers. Or so she thought.

THE RISE OF THE THERAPIST-ADJACENT INFLUENCER Mental health has moved out of the clinic and into our feeds. Hashtags like #healing, #trauma-bond, and #attachmentstyle rack up millions of views. Influencers, some trained, may use therapy language to package wisdom into visually soothing, easily digestible content. But this visibility comes with a cost.

"Post-covid, conversations around mental health exploded," says Divija Bhasin, New Delhi-based founder of The Friendly Couch, an organisation that provides therapy. "That showed creators there was a demand to fill. But unfortunately, many professionals hesitated to step into the content space, so unqualified influencers filled the void." According to Bhasin, the accessibility of therapy-speak makes it attractive to those with no background in psychology.

"Everyone has mental health issues, so everyone feels entitled to give an opinion. But they oversimplify it. They'll say things like 'exercise cures depression' which is not only untrue, it makes people feel worse when those tips don't work."