The Sad Truth About Mental Health Startups in 2021
Nothing has brought me more joy than seeing the world start to pay attention to mental healthcare over the past few years. From investors to media outlets and employers, everyone seems to be 100% on board in eroding stigma and investing in the public’s mental health.
There’s one glaring problem though…they’re going about it the wrong way.
The majority of startups are doing the exact same thing. They’re working to re-invent therapy — making it easier to find the right therapist, connect with them from anywhere, and finding ways to reduce the cost.
All great things, but they only solve a small fraction of the problem.
Did you know that 60% of people that need mental health treatment don’t get it? And that the majority of people don’t stick with therapy for more than a few appointments?
While making treatment more affordable and convenient will definitely get more people in the door, it’s only an incremental improvement.
Questions Mental Health Startups Need To Answer
Startups need to look beyond existing treatment models and figure out how to answer the following questions.
How do we build a product that…
- Isn’t stigmatized
- People want to stick with
- Can help users day in and day out
- Is effective, yet affordable
The Solution
I’ve been thinking about these problems for years, and built the Mental Health League to solve it. The MHL is mental health platform that combines gamification and live community to make tackling your mental health fun and engaging.
Beyond the product, the sports branding reaches men and other stigmatized populations that typically wouldn’t give mental health treatment a chance.
Is that actually the only solution? Of course not. I just hope more people take the above to heart and join me in trying to change the game instead of just reinventing the same broken wheel.
