Myndprime | The Fight For Mental Health Awareness And Betterment

• ByAnushka Singh     |    March 13, 2021

“The problem with the efforts done in India to change the  mental health scene is that we are trying to create an impact with a model which is not  necessarily suited to a developing and diverse country like India . A model suited to Europe can not always provide us ( India)  real and sustainable solution  ”-Sonali Choudhary, Founder of Myndprime in an exclusive interview with Startup Story Media. In an exclusive interview with Startup Story Media, founder Sonali Choudhary talks about her venture  Myndprime and how it is helping adolescents to figure out what is best for their mental health. With a Bachelors and Masters in sociology from DU and IGNOU respectively, Sonali was into teaching.  She wanted to do something for adolescents, especially young girls . As her husband worked with NGOs in maternal health. She was exposed to a lot of information regarding  ground level issues  and burden on women’s shoulders .  She started Myndprime with the sole intention to help  adolescents by providing  the right resources and  suitable culture to figure out what needs to be done as far as their mental health is concerned.

The Mental Health Ecosystem

When it comes to mental health problems, India has always been late in acknowledging the problem and hence the burden on an already crippled system has worsened .WHO states that in India, (per 100,000 population) there are psychiatrists (0.3) and  psychologists (0.07) and social workers (0.07), while the desirable number is anything above 3 psychiatrists and psychologists per 100,000 population.  India also accounts for 36.6 per cent of suicides globally, and that suicide has surpassed maternal mortality as the leading cause of death among women and teenage girls aged 15-19 years.

Myndprime’s Mission

Sonali explains,”When you are young, you get exposed to a lot especially girls, their experience changes after they hit puberty.” Sonali believes that this age group is particularly vulnerable and there are not enough resources in India to cater to this problem. Myndprime is working with schools because adolescents spend the majority of their active time here  and  it is easier for them to communicate with children by using schools as an infrastructure instead of talking directly to the parents. “The parents will not entertain any conversation regarding their child’s mental health. When the school calls, they listen to them.” says Sonali. The mission of Myndprime is to work with adolescents and provide a platform where all the stakeholders like  adolescents , schools , parents and mental health experts can collaborate .

Modus Operandi

Myndprime with schools and mental health experts  provide content to students ( adolescents only ) to make them at ease with the topic and engage them for better understanding . Our modules are simple , direct and well crafted to suit Indian context . After exposing them to content  and consent from parents , students are asked a certain set of questions about a range of mental health topics and answers are reviewed by mental health experts to provide a comprehensive report for each student only to be accessed by parents in their section from our website . At every stage of assessment , privacy and anonymity is ensured .

What Sets Myndprime Apart

Talking about what sets them apart, Sonali says, “the differentiator here is that we don’t necessarily see all mental health subtle issues  to be a problem.  Our intention is to not only provide young minds  tools to  solve any existing issues but also  understand and  prepare for future battles . We believe once you understand the true nature and magnitude  of  a problem, you can talk to the stakeholders and persuade or ask  them to do something about it.   We also try to focus heavily on parents who we think are real pillars of strengths for young minds and including schools where they spend most of their time  , it is imperative to help parents  in becoming better prepared and aware about the mental health of their children.

Challenges that exists

Myndprime focuses on tier 2 to 3 cities as work which needs to be done there is huge. Startup Story Media got to know the challenges to Myndprime involve the fact that schools are not aware that mental health problems exist and even when they are  they don’t want to take the risk of putting their existing  system  under pressure .  Parents lack awareness and acceptance is always  a problem . Overall , the groundwork which should have been done to tackle a potential pandemic has not been done .

Founder’s Message

As a country we have always been guiding the world in understanding subtleties of life and human mind   . It’s time to help our new generation understand we have enough resources to come over anything when it comes to mental health. Trust and talk !

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