It is not surprising that most suicide cases in Japan are by employees working in a company or corporation. As most Japanese companies’s culture demand their employees to be obedient to their superiors, coupled with the Japanese culture of glorifying gaman (enduring no matter how hard), it is not hard to imagine the amount of stress a normal office worker has to bear simply during a workday.
Covid-19 did not making anything easier. With the country’s multiple lockdowns and requests not to socialize outside working hours, suicide rates among office workers has seen a rise during the pandemic. As the Government and corporations take steps to tackle this serious issue, it has provided opportunities to new startups in mental health tech in helping them to tackle mental health problems among office workers. In this article, we will be covering 5 startups providing mental health support.
Unlace is a startup founded during the pandemic with the mission to prevent mental health problems among employees. Their services include matchmaking between those who are prone to depression or mental health problems and certified counselors. Counseling sessions can be conducted via the platform without having to meet in person, which could be a burden for patients.
In addition, users can also journal their feelings and problems in the platform for them to track their progress, allowing companies to provide support immediately when employees are having problems with stress. With their seed round completed after raising $2.3M, it is expected that this will help them to improve their counseling services, marketing activities and recruitment.
Hakali believes that data digitization will be a huge player in mental health support, hence they developed a platform called “Awarefy”, which can be easily downloaded from App Store and Google Play. Their solutions are science-based, utilizing data for cognitive-behavioural therapy(CBT), a widely accepted method that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions. The datafication allows them to personalize their therapy program, including self-monitoring and mindfulness meditation that can be performed within the platform itself. The platform also comes in English support, hence foreigners working Japan can also use the platform.
Melon understands that prevention is the best cure for mental health problems, and one of the best methods for that is meditation. By having a physical studio in Shibuya, as well as providing online classes, their certified professional instructors can help employees maintain their mental wellbeing. They believe that their programs will not only increase productivity but also employee satisfaction, indirectly providing additional value to companies. This belief is also shared among major corporation such as Sony and KDDI, as they have been introducing Melon’s programs for their employees.
There is definitely still a lot of work to be done for Japanese corporations to take their employee’s mental health as a priority, but this is about to change. As more VCs are starting to invest in mental health tech in an industry which almost doubled over the past few years in Japan, it is undeniable that there will be room for the market to further expand. Adding to the recent official market entry into Japan by Intellect, the largest mental health startup in Asia, it is evident that this industry are starting to attract more attention from investors. As remote work is starting to be adopted as the norm by more companies in Japan, mental health issues among employees will become an ever-larger challenge for companies. This is where the aforementioned startups step in, and we can definitely assume there will be more to come in the future.
*Photo by emol inc.
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