‘Click M' For Mental Health

Mental health and wellbeing has become a major cause for concern, especially due to the pandemic-induced psychological traumas, stemming from spending long hours in the confines of one’s home, minimal to zero social interaction, inability to meet and greet friends and family, as before and financial insecurity. Little wonder that the mental health space turned out to be ‘the hot’ sector in 2021, with funding more than doubling globally, climbing from $2.3 billion to $5.5 billion. As app-based mental health solutions are becoming a rage in APAC, we take a quick look at a few promising players.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

Mental health problems are rising worldwide and Asia Pacific is no different, with anywhere between 4 per cent and 20 per cent of the population experiencing a diagnosable mental health problem, according to a Lancet report.

Even then, mental health remained an issue largely unaddressed, almost neglected, until now. In recent times, there has been a flurry of activities and funding in the sector which aim to bridge this gap. COVID-19, focus on preventive health, limited number of psychiatrists and the narrow access to clinical treatment in the region have all fuelled the adoption of apps for such disorders.

Based on the Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare Report 2019, 34 per cent of physicians believe mental health service can be delivered digitally and 20 per cent are confident it can be powered by machine learning in the next 5 years.

Market is also set to reflect that. According to a report by Market Data Forecast, the size of the mental health software market was valued at $0.31 billion in 2021 and is estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 14.86 per cent reaching $0.62 billion by 2026.