CosmicTaco

I'm Amit Malik, Founder & CEO at Amaha. Ask me anything!

Hi Grapevine,

I'm Amit, currently building Amaha, India’s largest mental health platform.

I'd love to chat with you all about my journey in building Amaha, my thoughts on how we can make mental health support more accessible and effective for everyone, and entrepreneurship amongst other things.

Ask me anything, I'll be back at 5 PM and begin answering! :)

3mo ago

37Kviews

SwirlyRaccoon

Target3mo

Hello Amit, what's your take on urban loneliness? Especially for folks who are staying away from family/friends.

And also, one common thing being seen is people mentioning that it's very difficult to make new friends once we start with a career. And this relates to the previous question as well.

BouncyDonut

Swiggy3mo

I am in same bot , now moving back to home town

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@Dhoni I think this is a great question for one of our senior therapists @AskAmaha

BouncyBiscuit

BNP Paribas3mo

Hi, I get that venting might feel good, but does it actually make a difference day-to-day? Or is it just a temporary relief and then I’m back where I started?

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@InfatuatedUnderneath Once again, this is a great question for one of our senior therapists @AskAmaha

ZoomyPenguin

Amaha3mo

@InfatuatedUnderneath That’s a great question! As humans, we want to feel connected with others and sharing our experiences and feelings is one way to feel that connection. Having someone take the time out to listen to us also validates our experiences, which makes us feel good. However, venting about the emotions alone time and again may not be helpful in the long run. A crucial aspect of venting is the use of the safe space to become aware of your thoughts, explore new perspectives and while trying to reduce the chance of future similar upsets. So, while sharing your experiences is great, also think about trying to gain some insights from what's causing the difficult experiences.

SleepyPenguin

FICO3mo

Therapists don’t know me or my story, so how can they actually help me solve my problems? Feels like they’re just guessing half the time.

GroovyNugget

Stealth3mo

Not OP. Good ones take time to understand your story. You can try to clarify if you think they're assuming things.

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@ImmaculateStress Most good clinicians make the effort to understand you and your life context to be able to really work with you collaboratively and create a treatment plan for you. If you feel like your therapist is simply guessing it is definitely worth addressing that with them, in the first instance. If this still doesn’t give you the right comfort, then you might want to consider an alternative professional, given how critical trust and the therapeutic relationship is for your recovery.

JazzyBiscuit

Cognizant3mo

Hi Amit, what is your views having professional cuddle therapy session in india ? I know the cultural background that we all come from , More than medicine hug can solve loneliness , depression and anxiety. Also , why there is no medication for emotional wellbeing , kindly let me know emotional wellbeing impact personal , professional , social , economic and physical relationships. Please advise on both above topics.

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@SevereConvention I really have no expertise or experience in cuddle therapy so will not be able to comment on it.

Emotional wellbeing impacts all the aspects of one’s life that you have mentioned above. Being emotionally healthy is similar to being physically healthy, in that you need to practise healthy habits across diet, exercise, relationships, work and all other aspects of your life. Medicines are needed well we move away from a state of wellbeing and are feeling unwell - emotionally or physically.

JazzyBiscuit

Cognizant3mo

Western countries like UK, US Europe have started cuddle therapy session to ease out loneliness/depression.

SnoozyWalrus

Uber3mo

Amit - thanks for doing this. Why is mental health such a big problem now? Previous generations have had a tough (er?) life. So, what changed?

Apart from therapy - would you recommend low acuteness stressed/depressed folks to focus on leisure/social/sports instead of speaking to a therapist?

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@AngryBus91 I hear this a lot from many people that mental health is a much bigger problem now. This is partially true as many societal factors like nuclear families, urban migration, excessive device and social media usage, and loneliness have amplified the level of psychological illnesses in modern society. Having said that, many mental health conditions have existed for generations, and have either not been diagnosed because of lack of awareness, or have not been spoken about because of stigma. The one positive in this current mental health crisis is that there are greater levels of awareness and much lower stigma - so a lot more people who would have suffered in the past are seeking and getting help.

WigglyPanda

BrightCHAMPS3mo

Hi Amit, no disrespect but going to ask this anyways since this has always been on my mind

Therapy seems expensive, and sometimes I wonder if it’s just a way for people to make money off others’ struggles. How can I trust that it’s not just about the paycheck?

Nothing but respect for entrepreneurs, I hope you don't mind the question 🙏🏼

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@ExpensiveLadder This is a very fair question and not disrespectful at all. This conflates two separate issues. Everyone should have access to affordable high quality mental health care and at the same time, we need more mental health professionals who are highly trained and qualified and provide effective treatment, so they need to be remunerated for their expertise and time. If we don’t do this, fewer professionals will be able to afford to come into the profession or stay in it and this will make the mental health crisis bigger. In many parts of the world, public health systems support this access. In India, we are beginning to see employers, educational institutions and insurance beginning to support access for their members, but it is still early days and most people pay from their own pockets for this service, which can’t be easy. We also try to work with charitable funds to subsidise treatments for specific groups - for instance we ran a programme during the pandemic to provide free mental health support to all healthcare professionals.

SqueakyPickle

Willis Towers Watson3mo

You've reached couple of lakhs of people with the Amaha. What’s one feature you think has made the biggest difference for users? Why do we even need tech in this space?

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@WellmadePigsty The biggest difference for us has been our efforts to really take a client-centric approach and build solid clinical protocols around it in everything we do. Tech is a real enabler to be able to scale access and quality which would be impossible to do otherwise. Tech also enables our professionals to be effective by providing them the right tools to work with their clients. At Amaha, we have a very in-depth tech platform not only for our clients but also for our clinicians, and we get a lot of positive feedback from both clients and clinicians on our platform.

SquishyQuokka

Gojek3mo

Hey @DrAmitMalik
Im @salt the OG Grapeviner

Would you suggest getting Amaha or getting Headspace? Which is better for which user persona?

Asking to understand meditation vs therapy as a first step intervention for mental health.

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@salt This really depends on what you are looking to do. Meditation is a very well recognised emotional wellness tool. Amaha’s core competence is to really support individuals with their emotional distress or inability to function because of a mental health need/illness.

FloatingBagel

BDO India3mo

I’m burnt out, stressed, and it feels like I’m just one bad day away from snapping. But instead of work changing or easing up, I’m supposed to go pay someone to tell me to breathe and meditate? How is that supposed to fix the actual problem – the job that’s sucking the life out of me?

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@MajesticControversy You are absolutely right! Therapy will not “fix” your job. But working with a good therapist will help you in identifying how you can equip yourself with tools to manage your stressors.

QuirkyNugget

Stealth3mo

Hi Amit. Amaha user here. Your file transfer system was a little buggy when I tried playing the voice note that my therapist sent me. Also, you should have a 30 mins plan pack. Thanks for hearing me out.

CosmicTaco

Amaha3mo

@SabChangaSi Thanks a ton for the feedback! We will definitely look into it.

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