A 44-year-old management consultant from Hosur in Tamil Nadu attends back-to-back meetings through the week, helping firms cut costs, improve services and better their performance. In spite of his busy schedule, he finds time on the weekends to serve as an ‘anonymous listener’.
A mobile chat with him comes as a much-needed relief for individuals grappling with anxiety, sadness, loneliness and suicidal thoughts. “The moment you confide in someone, half of the burden is reduced. Having access to a patient ear is crucial when one is dealing with mental stress,” said the consultant, who is one of the 200 trained listeners volunteering with Moodcafe, a mental health startup.
Started in October 2018 by Mikul Patel (25) and Rahul Mirdha (23), alumni of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Roorkee respectively, Moodcafe enables people to chat with trained listeners. The listeners provide active, empathetic and non-judgemental listening. Based on the severity of the conversation, the listeners suggest mental health counselling or intervention through a suicide helpline.
The founders of Moodcafe said the app has saved nine lives in the past six months. Mr. Patel said, “The listeners go through a screening test, which covers various aspects of communication and confidentiality. Over 800 people took the test, but only 200 cleared it and were able to participate in the online training module to become a listener.” Mr. Patel said the app now has over 10,000 users.
Spreading positivity
A 34-year-old counselling psychologist from Shimla, who has been a listener with Moodcafe for the past two months, said, “By simply chatting, we may not be able to change a person’s mental health status. But it definitely helps in stopping them from spiralling downwards into negativity. I have noticed so many users starting off the conversation in distress and ending it positively.”
The psychologist dedicates two to three hours every day to handle 10 to 15 chat requests. She said, “A chat may last just for a few minutes or extend even to a few days. It is the user’s call to end it.” She said one of the main concerns of users is whether their confidentiality would be maintained. Also, at times, some users download the app mistaking it to be a dating or a companionship platform, but the listeners explain the concept to them and end the chat.
A 39-year-old homemaker from Thane has a fixed time slot — 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. — to listen in every day. “Loneliness and depression are the most common complaints,” she said. In the past 11 months as a listener, she has managed to save one life. “An IIT student who was on the verge of ending his life started a chat with me. He wanted to pursue arts, but his parents pushed him into IIT because he was a bright student,” she said. The chat went on for an entire day and she managed to calm him down and convinced him to dial the helpline. “I could not sleep that night. I kept chatting with him for two days, but he assured me that he had sought help,” she said.
The listeners describe their contribution as an enriching experience. The management consultant from Hosur said, “At the end of the day, I feel happy to have helped someone. It boosts my self-esteem too.”
