Mental Health Matters! Know How This Delhi-Based Startup Is Creating Peer-To-Peer Support System

There was a significant increase in mental health disorder cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, and people started suffering from anxiety, depression and fear of social isolation. The pandemic-led lockdown situation across the country also brought the mental health issue into the spotlight as people started talking about it freely without hesitation of being judged.

According to a report, India saw a spike of 35 per cent in cases of mental health disorders in 2020 alone. In the same year, there were almost 53 million cases of depression and 76 million cases of anxiety and other mental health disorders. Despite such huge figures, only one professional is available per 1,00,000 population to provide mental health healing.

To tackle the prominent issues prevailing in modern society, Divya and Harsheen, two ambitious women with a different vision to understand the world, co-founded 'Through Thick & Thin' (TTnT). It is a peer-to-peer support group that originated in 2020 and became a part of Yellow Epiphanies mental health services, a registered organisation by the same founders.

How The Idea Came To Existence?

The co-founder of TTnT, Divya, while talking to The Logical Indian, said, "Openly sharing and expressing have always been troublesome tasks. Some used to listen passively and judged for oversharing, whereas others invalidated the emotional state. Many are prompt to build such inclusive groups and create a culture of dialogue and conversations around everyday stressors because sometimes the daily stressors and hassles, if kept to oneself, can build up in the form of mental illness."

The support group works with an alternative proactive model for comprehensive psychological health. It promotes group sharing and expression, confidentiality, inclusion and equality, dialogue, respect, decision making, safe environment free of judgment. These sessions involve meaningful, dialogue-driven engaging activities and role-playing. These activities promote communication, trust, and personal and social growth.

The organisation also has expert heads consisting of psychologists, counsellors, professors, and educationalists. The set of activities is thoroughly researched by the team and then reviewed by the expert heads. Maintaining a professional, respectful, and ethical environment and keeping sessions free from discrimination, sexual misconduct, or behaviours that make a member feel uncomfortable, harassed, or threatened is closely monitored and taken care of.

Work Done By TTnT So Far

Since its inception, they have conducted over 200 online and offline sessions. A full flagged covid anxiety campaign with trained listeners and mental health first aid providers was successfully run by them in 2021. They have been running dedicated support groups offline in the NCR region. Further expanding to Tier 2 cities, they have also made footprints in Nagpur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Warangal.

The mental health startup also collaborated with the UP government, GirlUp, Interconnected, Oxford bookstore, and many other organisations to execute several campaigns. Posted on several digital platforms like Mindclan, their on-ground reach among people is constantly rising.

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