MENTAL SUPPORT

Sarmad Rizwan Ahmad left his lucrative job in a Fortune 500 company to pursue what he sees as his calling in life … serving humanity in an area that is still seen as a stigma in many parts of the world.

He recently launched his startup ‘Saaya’ – a Bahrain-based online platform for mental health and has joined the growing global movement to make help easily accessible to people in this area. He plans to harness the power of the internet and advances in e-health and machine learning to help people across the globe.

Saaya focuses on stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and even couples counselling. It aims to join people seeking help with therapists who speak their language and understand their culture.

It is believed to be the first such organisation in the GCC to offer people direct access to help. It is also the first of its kind offering help to corporates and organisations in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) and South Asia regions.

So what is Saaya and what is the concept and reasons behind its inception?

Globally, it is estimated that businesses lose $80-100billion annually due to the mental health of their employees. And yet only 13 per cent of employees are actually willing to tell anyone of their suffering. The issue is huge, and it is unaddressed due to the stigma attached to it, believes Sarmad.

He personally realised the scale of the problem after not only seeing close family members and colleagues battle mental health problems, but more prominently during his on-going work for a mental health charity.

Saaya offers people hope considering that the amount of attention given to mental illness is simply depressing, no pun intended. “Several people in my family have struggled, fought and succeeded in becoming amazing individuals. So I know there is hope and with help, things can get better,” he explained.

His startup gets its name from the Urdu/Hindi language word ‘saaya’, which means shade, and it’s exactly what it wants to provide people – a shade, a saaya, says Sarmad.

Usually people simply narrow down mental health to lunacy or some learning disability. But it’s more encompassing than that. “Everyone with a mind has mental health. Just like the body can get weak, the mind can as well,” said Sarmad.

For example, he says, very smart people can get very anxious during high-level projects and this can harm the very project itself. He has also known people, who have had stress-related breakdowns, and while others thought they were ‘lazy’, they actually needed help.

“And there’s no harm in seeking help. It’s similar to doing exercise to strengthen the body or dressing the wound when you get bruised,” he added.

Anyone, he says, can be just a bad event away from needing some sort of stress or anxiety therapy.

Unfortunately, most societies regard mental health as a taboo. Sarmad suggests there are two reasons for that.

Firstly, he believes, is because we tend to fear what we do not see. And since we cannot physically see why a strong boss is suddenly making errors, or why a successful actor is considering suicide, we think they are ‘crazy’.

And secondly, he says, we are not educated enough about mental health issues. “Often, when people in our society see a mental issue with someone, they immediately blame it on jinns (spirits) because that’s what they know. Now, I am a Muslim and I do believe in jinns, but our first thought cannot be jinn, it should be mental illness. The chances of you having schizophrenia are much higher than you being possessed,” he said.

And so, Saaya wants to change these perceptions, and break the stigma by going to employees through organisations. “When trusted corporations tell you that you can have a stress management session, it will lower your barrier of hesitation,” says Sarmad. “And, when you have these sessions online – in the privacy of your room or cubicle – you can easily and confidently talk to a therapist. There is scientific proof that online video counselling helps.”

Mental illness can affect both sexes and the reasons may vary. However, he adds, women are more likely to talk about their issues and this makes them stronger than men in many ways. “They are more willing to seek help,” he believes.

Men on the other hand are traditionally expected to be ‘tougher’ and are unfortunately made to think that they can never be weak.

Traditionally, the Mena and South Asia regions have had very few therapists and counsellors and those operating can prove to be expensive. And although many mental health platforms have emerged based in the West, these unfortunately do not cater to regional cultures, he claims.

Saaya, he says, offers people ‘culturally relevant’ mental healthcare. “The pressures a Bahraini couple face are not the same as a German couple. So we cannot have a German counsellor telling Ahmad from Tubli how to improve,” Sarmad argues.

He says Saaya doesn’t just provide mental health access, it wants to provide ‘relevant’ access, which is actually helpful. It is bringing on board the most professional psychologists and therapists from across the world – therapists who speak Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi and Tamil. And since it’s an online platform, it can be accessed by anyone from anywhere.

Saaya is currently piloting two channels: direct, and through organisations. The direct channel is pretty straightforward. All people have to do is go to Saaya’s website and fill out a form. It will then connect them with a counsellor, who is closely matches an individual’s background regarding language and location and the sessions start thereafter. This service is currently in beta mode.

For the direct channel, the fee is on a sliding scale (location and problem dependent). For organisations, Saaya offers tailored solutions. So for example, for companies and universities in the GCC where there are several nationalities onboard, they provide them a global team according to their size and requirements that will cater to their diversity.

Organisations are charged a monthly retainer for private online counselling for their employees. In this way, employees/students get help for free since the employer is paying. And all communication is kept confidential. Even the organisation is not allowed to know who is seeking what kind of help.

For an extra fee, Saaya also provides companies tailored help on how to reduce employee stress and the trends that will enable them to retain and engage their employees.

Saaya is also on a path to building its own e-health technology so that eventually it improves its online-therapy experience using augmented reality and other innovative methods.

As with every start-up, funding is a challenge. For now Saaya is completely self-funded by Sarmad and his co-founders from his savings from his previous job. But he will look for investments once the venture gathers the desired traction.

Saaya was selected as one of eight Mena Startups for the Runway to Web Summit, which Sarmad recalls as a great experience. The startup has found a strong partner in the Economic Development Board (EDB).

“The EDB has been extremely helpful in becoming a strategic partner for us. Sawsan AbdulKarim from Healthcare Investments at EDB is a wonderful ally, while CH9 – the incubator at Amwaj – is a place where great learning and collaboration takes place. All this along with Tamkeen’s support makes Bahrain an amazing place for a tech-enabled company to start up,” said Sarmad.

Sarmad, the eldest of four brothers, is from Pakistan, and grew up in Saudi Arabia. He’s been in Bahrain for four years and has fallen in love with the kingdom. He is married to Canadian Katharine, general secretary of the Migrant Workers Protection Society.

Sarmad has a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham, in the UK, and an MBA from one of the world’s leading universities – IE University in Madrid. He worked for Procter & Gamble (P&G) for 11 years, but quit to give his undivided attention to Saaya.

Sarmad has been lucky so far with his startup but believes ‘a little desperation’ is necessary in entrepreneurship. This way he will work hard towards his goals. He also strongly invites competition, since in the end, it’s all about making mental health a mainstream topic.

His mission is very simple. “When someone gets physically injured, he shouldn’t be ashamed of dressing his wound or asking for help. Similarly, if someone is emotionally bruised, there shouldn’t be any shame in getting help there either. Help your fellow man!” he said.