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Today’s world is a frightening place. Too many world leaders are promising to destroy other countries – and one should be too many. The economy is constantly on the verge of full-scale implosion. The Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis are making a comeback.

Even the internet is no longer safe, with everyone suddenly having to download and use VPNs (at least, this gives those in restricted countries a way to learn how to watch American Netflix).

With so much fear in the air, already out of control mental illness statistics are shooting up. Fortunately, tech innovators are here to make mental health far more accessible. Along the way, they're coming up with some fun and exciting ideas.

These are some of the mental health startups that are transforming the industry.

Woebot

The adorable name is just the tip of the iceberg here. Woebot is a Stanford based startup that uses AI to deliver easily digestible CBT to the masses. Originally aimed at college students, Woebot has evolved to cater to a wider audience. It does not sell itself as a therapy bot, and encourages those struggling to manage to seek professional health. However, research has shown that it does an excellent job of lowering anxiety and improving mood in just two weeks. Two weeks, you say? Well, you can see for yourself – the startup offers a two week free trial, after which you can choose to pay to continue.

Kick Health and Youper

Kick Health and Youper are both excellent startups providing anxious people with a way to overcome their insecurities. Each of them uses an attractive and fun app to provide actionable tasks to help people slowly work through social anxiety, career anxiety, and so on. An example of a task for beginners would be to compliment a waiter on something personal. The difficulty builds up over time, keeping track of how you're doing and helping you deal with setbacks.

inRecovery

Started by recovering addict, David Sarabia, inRecovery provides a holistic approach to make rehab work better. It ties into rehab programs, allowing staff to help clients more directly while in rehab and help them continue recovery when they leave. It uses blockchain technology, and may be the solution to notoriously low success rates.

VR Programs For PTSD

One of the most widely known strategies for treating PTSD is exposing the sufferer to the trigger over and over again, helping their mind reconfigure its responses to something that no longer poses a danger. Unfortunately, this comes with many drawbacks. The patient may not feel ready to face the trigger in real life, and sometimes it’s impossible to replicate the scenario.

Virtual reality has therefore become an angle that multiple startups are taking to revolutionise PTSD treatment. They aim to provide a safe environment in which to reconfigure trigger responses. This has the potential to help many sufferers who feel stuck and disillusioned with treatments that, thus far, have not been effective.


Nivedita Harish

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