Reliable &Verifiable Mental Health information and solution is hard to find despite of easy access to internet and many Mental Health service provider. This is where the One Life, a Bhubaneswar-based startup which has been working in this space since 2019, stepped in and started various emotional support platforms, providingcounseling services, seminar and workshops at schools, colleges and corporate.
Speaking to Special Correspondent ABC News, One Life Founder/ Director Zahid Akhtar says, “Our focus is towards a healthy lifestyle which comes from a healthy mind and we dedicatedly focus on overall development of our clients through our Online/Offline counseling platform.We provide reflective feedback, supportive dialogue, and thoughtful inquiry to make the situations clear by our Subject Matter Expertise & Psychologists. Our team utilizes techniques, modalities, and theories that have been rigorously studied and researched. We focus only on you and work enough to understand and guide you to achieve your goals.”
Today, there is rise in mental health concerns among young Indians. According to WHO, 10-20% of children and adolescents experience mental health conditions, but most of them do not seek help or receive care. Half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15–19-year-olds. Additionally, the findings of the National Mental Health Survey 2016 revealed that nearly 9.8 million young Indians aged between 13-17 years need active interventions. These figures are alarming to say the least.
One Life has spent a larger part of the last three years extensively interacting with youngsters across the country, observed that some of the major concerns affecting the mental health of this generation include – stress & anxiety related to career and academics, loneliness pertaining to not having enough friends, difficulty talking to parents, body &self-image issues, trauma caused due to sexual harassment, homophobia, bullying faced in schools and tuition centers and conflicts with parents & teachers.Further, with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic, students are in a great deal of distress due to uncertainty over exams, online classes, college admissions, future career plans and discord with parents at home.
We at One Life listen to people with mental health issues and are being more empathetic towards young India. Today, we are very much accessible, one can reach through any of the mediums like phone calls/ messages/video conferencing and offline Face to Face counseling. We do rigorous Awareness/Training programs and teach people coping skills and provide support services for the distressed.
Every life matters.
