5 Times increase in the Mental Health Queries: Practo

Digital healthcare platform Practo has observed a sharp rise of 665% in the number of mental health queries since last year.

Due to the pandemic, last six months have been a major challenge for people living with mental health conditions and there has been a steep increase in the number of people screened for anxiety and depression. This scenario also leads to increase in the online consultations by 180% for the mental health queries on Practo in the last six months alone. Many people are experiencing complex emotions due to stress, isolation, anxiety, grief & more in addition to existing mental health conditions.

Out of all the queries, 60% of the queries were from people in the age group of 21-30, followed by 25% in the age group of 31-40, 5% for 41-60, and 10% from those above 60.

More than two-thirds of the queries were in the age group of 21-40. Bipolar disorder & depression increased significantly along with the commonly discussed topics of anxiety, stress, and panic attacks in the last six months.

According to the Practo health insights (Oct 2019 – Sep 2020), with the record growth of 1200% non-metro cities registered 35% of queries from the overall number while 65% came from Metro cities with the increase of 500% since last year.

Breaking it further, 70% of all mental health-related consults come from men & 30% were from women. Bangalore leads the number among metro cities followed by Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. While Chandigarh tops the list in Non-metro cities followed by Lucknow, Bhhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Hubli, Kanpur and Ahmedabad.

To tackle this problem by raising the awareness, Practo launch an online campaign as #TalkTherapy. Along with Videos, collaterals & other efforts to raise the awareness, company has launched 3 new packages to consult people with these disorders.

 Dr. Amrit Pattojoshi, Professor Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital, Direct Council Member of The Indian Psychiatric Society, said, “In the midst of a global pandemic crisis, a lot of people are suffering from mental health problems. It is being reported that services to mental health are getting disrupted globally while the demand has been constantly increasing over the last few months. For a lot of people, things like loneliness and isolation are new experiences. When coupled with work stress and health concerns, everyone is suffering from some form of mental health issue. While in-person counseling sessions might not always be possible during this time, people can consult psychiatrists and psychologists via online through platforms like Practo. It is important to talk to a mental health professional at the right time so that it can be dealt with at an early stage.”