Farheen Meraj, a Noida-based research fellow with a Government organisation, stumbled upon a post by a someone who called themselves a mental health counsellor. Google Trends reveals that the search words ‘anxiety’ and ‘mental health’ were slowly climbing before shooting to a peak on June 14, and plateauing. Influencer Santoshi Shetty’s now-taken-down video, offering unqualified mental health advice in exchange for money, (she later apologised) is a case in point. Until such a law is passed, it’s a free market for all ‘mental health influencers’. Ayushi Khemka, co-founder of Mental Health Talks India, says mental health has become a sort of “hobby project” for many influencers.

Source: The Hindu August 05, 2020 07:45 UTC