Chapter 4: Resources for help - YourDOST

If you have ever had any issues regarding your studies, or some unhappiness in your social life, or any distress in general - your friends may have recommended you to check out YourDOST. Considering that our institute is subscribed to this platform, we were keen to get some insights into its working and know more about the life of its co-founder and CEO, Mrs. Richa Singh. We hope that the following interview helps to quench this curiosity.

Background Questions

YourDOST is a holistic wellness platform. We help organisations build an enriching work environment by fostering resilience & engagement in communities.

What started as a simple blog has evolved into an emotional wellness platform with awareness modules, self-help tools, and one-on-one counselling services that empower individuals to become better versions of themselves.

When an organization signs up with us, it can access 1000+ experts, 24x7 counselling support, self-tools, and resources. We also offer specialised programs for founders, expecting mothers, layoff support, etc. In the 9+ years since our inception, we have worked with 600+ organizations, touched 30+ lakh people, and saved 10K+ lives. 

Our clientele includes organisations such as CK Birla Group, UpGrad, Capillary, Amara Raja, and institutes such as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, and IIM Bangalore. 

I graduated from IIT Guwahati with a specialisation in User Experience Design and then worked with companies such as Webfluenz, D.E. Shaw & Co. and O9 Solutions. 

The idea behind founding YourDOST stemmed from personal experiences and the tragic loss of a college friend due to mental health struggles. After graduating from college, my co-founder Puneet and I noticed how stressed people were. Job pressure, relationship issues, confidence issues, self-esteem issues, etc., affected almost everyone.

Yet, people needed to be more open to discussing all this with a professional. We found that there was too much stigma around mental health. People were afraid that if others found out that they were seeking professional support, they would succumb to the prevailing stereotypes around mental health and associate those who seek help with labels.

There was hardly any awareness about mental health in our country. People are unaware of what counselling is, let alone when they should seek it.

Challenges: 

Our technology-based counselling platform faced resistance when entering the mental health industry. Despite this, we persevered to establish a credible model.

As a woman founder, I faced two significant challenges. The first was heavy societal pressure related to getting married and starting a family while starting a venture. The second challenge was related to the stigma around mental health and the misconception that it is only suitable for non-profit work, especially for women.

As an undergraduate student, an incident in the college hostel made me think seriously about doing something in the emotional wellness space. One of my friends was extremely worried about placements during the 2008 recession. She anticipated that she would not get placed and ultimately took her own life. This, made me think on how we can potentially tackle this problem, first by increasing awareness and then, using technology to solve this at scale. 

Initially, we launched YourDOST as a blog, which then evolved into a portal where individuals can seek mental health help anonymously. After we observed the issues that trickled down from poor mental health to organisations, we aimed to resolve this. After multiple brainstorming sessions in December 2014, we launched YourDOST as an emotional wellness platform that connects users with professional psychologists, coaches, and self-help tools. 

We work to create happier societies and build resilient communities. Our mission is to normalise mental health concerns and regularise mental health services. We aim to reach more people and advocate for better budget allocation and insurance coverage for mental health support.

1. Educating Stakeholders: Educating corporations and their employees on the importance of mental health was one of our biggest challenges and continues to be—in today’s day and age, with changing workplace dynamics, job requirements, etc. Workplace stress is at an all-time high, and counselling can play a huge role in helping employees deal with difficulties at the workplace. Wellness as a core strategy can also impact employee productivity, culture, and overall quality of life. This has improved over time, but we still believe we have a long way to go in spreading awareness about mental health in the workplace.
2. Adoption levels: Adopting employee assistance and wellness programs remains a checkbox if proper awareness is created among the employees and management. Our way to prevent this would involve the leadership and executives in the programs, who would lead by example.
3. Ensuring Quality with Scale: We started our journey with a handful of clients and have worked with over 600+ clients in the last nine years. Ensuring that we retained the same level of quality with our counselling sessions, training, and programs was a challenge at first, but we solved it by ensuring regular check-ins and surveys with our clientele so that the quality is not lost at scale.

How YourDOST works

Quality professional mental health support can become quite expensive in India. A therapy session can cost anywhere between Rs 800-2,500 per session, and it can take up to three months of weekly sessions for therapy to be effective. 

With this cost, many people may not be willing to invest this much in themselves, and even if they can afford it, they do not seek support until things become severe. 

To tackle this, YourDOST has tied up (through formal MoUs) with colleges, corporates, schools, government bodies etc. In these collaborations, the institution subscribes to YourDOST, and their community (students/ working professionals/ staff) can access counselling services for FREE. 

At YourDOST, we work with organisations, colleges, corporates and schools and provide interventions at three levels.

• At an individual Level, through YourDOST’s website/app, individuals get 24x7 instant access to professional guidance from psychologists and coaches, assessment tools to help them understand themselves better, and self-help modules and training to develop skills to take care of themselves, face adversities with greater resilience, and also provide support to those around them.
• At the team level, there are interventions for managerial training, diagnostics, and communication.
• At the organisation level, we work with the leadership on emotional wellness strategies, and awareness.

Our platform has a team of 1000+ experts who work on a shift basis, allowing us to provide 24/7 coverage to our clients. We also cater therapy sessions in almost 20+ Indian languages, keeping it accessible to the masses.

Mental health in India faces severe stigma, where it is still a taboo, preventing many from seeking help. 

The healthcare system prioritises physical health, leaving mental health underfunded and under-resourced, especially in rural areas. Access to mental health services is limited for those in smaller cities and remote areas, and the traditional offline model doesn't offer 24/7 support. However, technology has introduced the concept of 24/7 mental health support, providing users with access to psychologists according to their needs.

At YourDOST, we do not have psychiatrists who diagnose mental illnesses.

We are a team of 1000+ experts which includes psychologists, career coaches. Our platform allows you to connect with them and also access various self help tools all catered towards self care.

Miscellaneous

Therapy is as essential as self-growth and recreational activities like yoga and mindfulness. Therapy provides a structured environment to address deeper psychological issues and develop coping strategies. While self-growth activities promote relaxation and mental clarity, therapy tackles underlying challenges, fostering long-term mental health. Integrating both approaches can lead to holistic well-being, ensuring individuals manage stress and understand and heal from past experiences. 

At YourDOST, we believe in a balanced approach, combining therapy with self-growth activities to achieve comprehensive mental health care.

As we look towards the future, YourDOST is poised to navigate the dynamic landscape of Indian healthcare startups with a clear vision. Our primary goal is to extend our reach to all regions of India, ensuring that no individual is left without access to quality mental health support. We aim to cater to a diverse array of organisations, transcending traditional boundaries to include every sector that can benefit from our services.

In the coming years, we envision YourDOST becoming synonymous with mental wellness in India. By embracing innovation, fostering inclusivity, and prioritising the needs of our community, we are committed to transforming the landscape of mental health care in India and setting a new standard for healthcare start-ups globally.

Team Udaan thanks YourDOST for their cooperation and we hope that they achieve their goal of providing quality and affordable mental healthcare to each and every corner of India!