2020 has been a challenging year in many ways, including for everyone’s mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a spike in mental problems with cases tripling in the number of adults experiencing depression. Existing sentiments and situations drag on now into 2021.
Today, the mental health care system is not very efficient and in many cases, broken, due to a shortage of access for patients and a lack of lasting results.
Following the increasing mental problem trends, a study published in JAMA Network Open in September 2020 offered one of the first nationally representative estimates of how severe this epidemic may be: three times as many Americans met the criteria for a depression diagnosis during the pandemic than before it. Fortunately, the pandemic has also put an emphasis on telehealth and a larger focus on general well-being innovations.
Meru Health is setting a new standard in mental healthcare with one of the most comprehensive online solutions, which combines licensed therapists and psychiatrists, a smartphone-based treatment program, a biofeedback wearable, and anonymous peer-support groups.
Meru’s innovation is important in that it offers a more holistic treatment regimen that aims to help people develop better coping mechanisms, habits, and skills through increased self-awareness of their overall emotional and physical health. Instead of prescribing medications, Meru aims to target the root causes of mental issues and, importantly, addresses the issues of community and intense feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Trends targeted by CEO, Kristian Ranta, for 2021 include:
- Scaling telehealth solutions for mental health. Telehealth is seen in some way as a solution to all of our mental problems. But the problem of enough access to providers didn’t really disappear. One provider can only treat some 5–8 patients every day, so there ultimately isn’t enough providers to treat everyone in need. As mental health gets more and more attention in 2021, there will be more efforts toward scaling therapists
