Massive surge in mental health issues as India battles with Coronavirus: Lybrate

Overall within the age brackets, the jump in patient consults was has been highest in the age group of 25-45 years

Indians are grappling with multiple forms of mental health issues that have risen exponentially post coronavirus outbreak, cites Lybrate, India’s largest health and wellness platform, which has witnessed over 110% rise in online patient consults around mental health conditions on its platform.

The platform witnessed over 150% jump in online consultations sought by females for issues related to mental health, while the percentage for the same grew 85% in males reaching out to doctors online.

The highest jump has been witnessed from Mumbai (125%), followed by Delhi (109%), Pune (116%), Ahmedabad (97%), Chennai (86%), Bangalore (94%) and Kolkata (74%). Among Tier 2 cities, the biggest jump in online consultations concerning mental health has been reported from Indore (97%), Lucknow (93%), Kochi (87%), Patna (85%), Bhopal (57%) and Bhubaneshwar (43%).

Overall within the age brackets, the jump in patient consults was has been highest in the age group of 25-45 years. People from 45-60 age bracket were next who asked majority of queries on the platform regarding mental health.

“Mental health became a point of concern for a majority of Indians after COVID-19. We noticed on our platform that even specialists who did not deal with the subject were being consulted about mental health issues. Given the demanding situation, we provided a basic session to doctors of other specialists with psychologists on our platform who trained them on how to better counsel those seeking help regarding mental health problems. As the questions asked were mostly generic in nature, we thought it would come handy for those doctors who want to help out during the crisis,” said Saurabh Arora, Founder & CEO, Lybrate.

The queries mainly revolved around stress, isolation, claustrophobia, being unproductive, anger, irritation, loneliness, mood swings, not being able to cope with family members around, rifts between spouses, coping mechanisms, uncertainty and helplessness. Of late, there has been a substantial rise in queries from working people around job losses and related stress, fear and worry on resuming offices at a time when COVID-19 cases are rising in the country.

In the age group of 18-25 years, the percentage rise was 80% for online consultations done by males around mental health, while the same stood at 135% for females. Similarly, in the age group of 25-45 years, it was 95% for males and 160% for females. Coming to the 45-60 year age bracket, it was 90% for males and 140% for females.

Lybrate came up with the insights post analysis of data gathered in the period between March 1, 2020 and May 25, 2020. The platform has more than 3000 psychiatrists, psychologist and counsellors from across the country.

About Lybrate

Lybrate is India’s largest health and wellness platform. It offers twin services -- Lybrate GoodAdvice and Lybrate GoodKart. Lybrate GoodAdvice lets people consult with doctors online as also help them book appointments with healthcare experts, while Lybrate GoodKart brings together authenticated health and wellness products that are delivered to people at their doorsteps. By connecting doctors and patients through its first-of-its-kind health app and letting them communicate from anywhere, anytime, Lybrate makes healthcare more accessible. Founded by former professionals from Facebook and Snapdeal in 2014, Lybrate has more than 200,000 doctors and health experts from varied branches of medicine from across India. The company raised $10.2 million from Tiger Global, Nexus Venture Partners and Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata in Series A funding in July 2015. It received $1.23 million in seed funding in August 2014.