I say moment of truth, but it feels more like there were many moments of truth stitched together in time over the last year. 2020 has been a challenging year on all fronts, to say the least. When it comes to mental health — to me, this was the quake that shook the world with a seismic shift in emotional struggle and endurance (Warning: I am biased, being a Psychologist, I strongly believe that nearly everything is related to one’s state of mind).
We all have been riding the wave of disruption since March. We dealt with the initial isolation of work from home, balanced the imbalance of life and work (shout out to those of you who became parents, home schooled your kids, had to manage without your support system, and more). Many of us experienced grief and loss to varying degrees and felt palpable anxiety about our own and our family/loved ones’ health and safety. And let’s not forget that lurking existential fear of finding true meaning and purpose amidst all the chaos.
In addition to the struggle, we also learned to experience moments of joy, treasure the small things, became self-sufficient, connected with nature, discovered new ways to relate to our loved ones, and we challenged ourselves to live within a new reality and look at the larger picture. We developed a deeper connection to ourselves, despite the difficult path we had to take to get there. This is what mental health looks like folks: It is all-encompassing and extremely multifaceted. Hard to define it in a few words.
I think it’s safe to say that we have come out, in 2021, a slightly or very different person, than we were 8 months ago, and we are still learning to deal with the constant change. Bravo to us for that effort — It took a lot of work, so well done.
Mental Wellness in 2021
Research and precedence tells us that the impact of both natural and man-made disasters are always followed by spikes in the rates of depression, stress, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic health problems. The past year shows a similar trajectory, and the shadow of this trend will likely stay with us for a long time. However, the good news is that we are poised to be able to respond so much more effectively than even a few years ago, with digital health being at the helm of health and wellness. Our reach has expanded exponentially, and the need for mental health care will only grow.
How can we create dynamic mental health solutions that meet people where they are — this has been the running thought in my mind for the past few months.
At a global level, while most countries report that psychological first aid was a part of their response to the pandemic, the adoption of psychological help and self-help is still relatively low compared to the need for care, when we look at engagement with mental health apps. While we have an urgent need for robust mental health care, the world is still behind the curve in utilization. This is where understanding the barriers around why we don’t prioritize mental health enough comes into focus when we develop solutions.
The therapy couch (telementalhealth or in-person) will remain important as a traditional model of care. Therapy provides a form of support that other types of wellness products cannot provide. This is because vulnerability and the human connection is a core component of effective therapy, and it would be tough to substitute or replicate that in the same way, through non-provider based tools. The “Person of the Therapist” and the common factors in therapy such as the therapeutic alliance remains a critical factor in motivating individuals towards the growth one wants to achieve.
However, we know there is no one size fits all — the mental health market is experiencing a growth spurt with innovative models of care emerging and evolving. From anonymous peer support platforms and automated interventions, to using digital biomarkers to predict levels of stress, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression, we are venturing into new territory.
As custodians and guardians of mental health (i.e., mental health professionals), we need to keep a tight focus on both process and quality of care in this digitally connected world, as there are now more and more mental health apps being developed, each promising an array of solutions. We must ensure that key aspects of traditional mental health care such as confidentiality, privacy, science backed methodology, empathy and compassion, and a deeper understanding of the nuances of mental health are maintained via these apps. This is not an easy task, but digitally created solutions must at the least start with a clear journey that attempts to assess and understand (where the consumer is). Providing personalized care can go a long way in adding that human touch to digital interventions.
We also need to be mindful of categorizing mental health into closed boxes, and if the solutions we offer are over-simplified or too reductionist, it can become frustrating to those who try to engage. For instance, Depression is not just feeling down, but is interconnected to your sleep, activity level, energy, nutrition, your body, and mood. So any solutions that we develop, needs to take into account this interconnectedness and nuanced nature of mental health that I described at the start of this post.
More people will (and have started to) open up and share their own mental health journeys and struggle all over the world, which will start to break the silence around mental health. This can go a long way in reducing the stigma and other barriers in countries where seeking help for one’s mental health is still considered taboo. Whether it be more personal stories from celebrities, athletes, or our colleagues and families, I’m looking forward to this change and to see how we can help each other along the way and bring mental wellness into focus this year, more than ever before.
While 2020 was an eye-opener in many ways to the importance of mental wellness, I hope that 2021 will be the year of adoption when it comes to seeking the resources we need for our emotional well-being.
(Originally published on Medium. Follow Dr. Divya Kannan on medium.)