Serenity
- India
- Not registered as any organization
Serenity is addressing a pressing issue often taboo in India: mental health. According to the National Institute of Health and Neurosciences, the country faces a significant challenge, with 15% of the population affected, yet only 50% receive necessary care.
This gap is compounded by people's hesitancy to discuss mental health openly, as shown by a University of Chicago study where 86% avoid such conversations. Adding to this barrier is the expense of current mental health solutions, deterring one in six patients from seeking help.
Serenity is tackling the limited access to and affordability of mental health care in India. This is particularly critical for teenagers, including those at Serenity, who endure intense anxiety from various pressures. India's culture, heavily focused on academic achievements like IIT and NEET exams, amplifies this pressure, contributing to mental health challenges among young people.
Consider this: around 280 million Indians, or one in five individuals, grapple with mental health issues. Despite this staggering number, half of them lack proper support. This raises a fundamental question: why hasn't innovation met this necessity?
The urgency for change is apparent. We need scalable, accessible, affordable mental health solutions tailored to India's diverse challenges. This includes addressing the specific anxieties faced by teenagers—such as exam pressure, fear of failure, and time management struggles—which are often overlooked but profoundly impact mental well-being.
Mental Health is a vast problem and there are few solutions to tackle this issue. One can raise awareness among their community, encouraging teens to discuss crucial stigmas, or they can talk to a close friend or family member, someone they are comfortable/familiar with or they can even consult a professional. All these are potential solutions to the problem described above, but which would you say is the most effective? Which solution is the best? What would teenagers most benefit from? The simple answer — all of them, and that is exactly what our holistic solution — Serenity — offers.
We are a one-stop solution aimed at raising awareness about mental health problems through our online platform with an integrated AI-driven chatbot. At its core, Serenity features a user-friendly interface with a mood-tracking algorithm. This algorithm, using LLM and BERT's sentiment analysis, evaluates the user's emotion score and retrieves relevant documents from a database of research papers and books in psychology. Using this data it provides personalized recommendations and sound advice to the user. Among many of the chatbot features is the ‘Red Alert’, a special system designed to detect when a user is feeling particularly distressed. If a user's sentiment score indicates heightened distress, the chatbot sends a red alert, discourages certain actions, and initiates contact with a helpline via phone and email for paid users. Additionally, users can connect with mental health professionals, access free webinars, and book paid sessions with experts. All of these features are available on our website which also displays many mental health experts at affordable rates for users to consult with. Someone talking to a bot is simply not as effective as talking to a real person is and teenagers may often find themselves unable to reach out to family and friends, hence on our website one can book sessions with the top professionals in the field.
Apart from this adolescents can also seek support and foster a sense of community by connecting with our survivor community. The business has expanded its reach by starting a podcast series that invites survivors, professionals and activists to discuss a variety of mental health issues, debunk myths and promote a culture of understanding and support. Users can listen to the podcasts on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, etc. in order to understand that they are not alone in their struggle for a peaceful mind.
This initiative is a part of a broader mission to destigmatize mental health and advocate for mental well-being, clearly summarized in our motto: We Feel, We Heal.
Link to product and website demo- https://youtu.be/Zovl5duTT7M
Serenity's solution serves teenagers aged 13-18 in India, specifically targeting a population of approximately 280 million individuals facing mental health challenges. This demographic is currently underserved due to stigma, limited access to affordable mental health resources, and a lack of non-judgmental spaces for expression. Serenity's solution aims to directly and meaningfully improve their lives by providing accessible support through an affordable subscription fee of Rs. 69 per month. The platform offers personalized recommendations, access to certified diagnostic tests, and connections with mental health professionals, addressing their needs effectively. This approach seeks to empower teenagers to manage stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues, promoting overall well-being while keep the anonymity of our users.
We are ensnared in an endless pursuit of "perfection" and "success," driven by greed. While this propels us to invest our utmost in every endeavour, ensuring positive outcomes and personal growth, it often takes a toll on our mental well-being, leading to stress and moments of panic where the destination seems unreachable.
Avani hesitates to confide in her parents, fearing judgment due to the stigma surrounding mental distress.
Raghav lacks a confidant, constantly compared to his academically accomplished sister. As teenagers, we intimately understand and empathize with the needs of our target market. However, each of us also brings a unique skill set to the team.
Aryan's fixation on punctuality keeps everyone on their toes, ensuring timely completion of tasks. His refusal to settle for anything less than perfection fosters continuous improvement. Moreover, his extensive network aids in scaling Serenity and garnering publicity through collaborations with public figures, activists, and survivors. Skillfully delegating tasks, he ensures everyone's voice is heard.
Avani serves as the cohesive force within the team, disseminating rays of optimism in moments of failure, and rejuvenating our spirits. Her strong work ethic and artistic flair ensure that our solutions are meticulously crafted, with every element falling into place to enhance the product's appeal.
Raghav and Laksh embody the rational, analytical minds that ensure the viability of our solutions, supported by robust technology. Laksh's humor provides relief during distress, while Raghav quietly tends to all technological aspects.
Kashni excels as a communicator, effortlessly persuading others to support our cause. Her instrumental role in collaborations with organizations like SaveMyExams and the College Board has been invaluable.
Together, we operate in synergy. Despite occasional disagreements, we share a sense of camaraderie that sustains our commitment and enjoyment in running Serenity. Additionally, we are supported by experienced psychiatrists and compassionate mentors like Mr. Ayush Periwal, Mr. Vigyan Lodha, and Ms. Sheenu Jhawar, who offer timely guidance, ensuring practicality and effective execution.
Our JPIS community facilitated our beta testing, providing constant consumer feedback to enhance our chatbot. Not everyone is blessed with such support, tenacity, and resilience, which is why we believe we are best equipped to address the unmet mental health needs.
- Ensure health-related data is collected ethically and effectively, and that AI and other insights are accurate, targeted, and actionable.
- 3. Good Health and Well-Being
- Pilot
We have chosen the pilot stage because we have already launched our solution, which includes our self-coded mental health bot within our school community, and have gotten our school franchise on board. During the pilot stage, we also completed a beta test and worked on the reviews received. However, we are still working on our business model while growing and gaining traction, gaining over 150+ customers within our pilot model.
At the core of Serenity’s mission is the combination of innovation and accessibility in mental health care — principles that deeply resonate with MIT Solve ideology. Both of these organizations are dedicated towards ensuring ethical collection of data; by keeping our users identity anonymous.
Serenity is not just seeking financial support through Solve, we aspire to form a mutually beneficial partnership in order to enhance our business model. We aim to seek support in order to improve our Empathia chatbot’s response time and quality of answers so that our users are able to fluently converse with the AI. Through the vast network of global experts and prominent leaders in technology and health, this program could provide the critical support needed to optimize our operations and prepare us for successful expansions into new markets. This partnership will not only propel us towards achieving our goals but also contribute to a global community dedicated to innovative health solutions.
- Financial (e.g. accounting practices, pitching to investors)
- Human Capital (e.g. sourcing talent, board development)
- Product / Service Distribution (e.g. delivery, logistics, expanding client base)
- Public Relations (e.g. branding/marketing strategy, social and global media)
- Technology (e.g. software or hardware, web development/design)