Mcb777 Cricket Insta-therapy: When influencers turn shrinks

Last week, an Indian fashion influencer with more than 700,000 followers posted a video on her Instagram page offering to lend an ear to the angst of her followers for a fee of Rs 1,500. She had to quickly delete the post after she was roundly criticised for not being a qualified mental health professional.She’s not the only ‘Insta-therapist’ out there. Just search ‘mental health’ on Instagram and it throws up posts offering advice on everything from self-confidence, and depression to heartbreak and failure etc. @Mentalhealthtalksindia posted about a live session with a writer/producer/storyteller/teacher/entrepreneur who will talk about toxic masculinity and mental health. An angel card reader’s Insta bio lists ‘mental health wellness’ as a service, along with card reading and hypnotherapy. medium77083975Most influencers deny that they offer counselling. @Gratisoull is a page run by an engineer whose bio reads “just a girl trying to spread #selflove and #positivevibes”. In a May 20 post, she lists 12 early signs of mental health problems …lack of energy, withdrawal, eating and sleeping problems etc.. @Gratisoull told TOI that she has made it clear to her followers that she is not a professional. “All I do is encourage people to talk about their problems to the right person and find a solution rather than living with the problem.” @Farrhad, a lawyer/entrepreneur/motivational speaker who has 75,000 followers and talks of mental health along with career advice and motivation, says he does not offer counselling, paid or free. His efforts, he adds, are aimed at breaking the stigma around mental health. In a post last month, he listed reasons for depression as ‘we are living more for others’, ‘our lives are unsustainable’. medium77084501While most social media advice may be harmless and perhaps even help demystify some issues, the problem is when people with mental health problems connect with these influencers, looking for help.Both the pandemic and actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide have sparked more conversations and queries about mental health. But can social media substitute for the couch?According to a beauty influencer who didn’t want to be named, it makes sense for established influencers to use their voice to speak for a cause that’s trending. “International bloggers and influencers have always talked of selfcare and mental health but this is new in India,” she says. medium77084088While there is nothing illegal about what influencers are doing, Dr Jyoti Kapoor, psychiatrist, Paras Hospital, Gurugram, says serious mental health issues can go undiagnosed and untreated because of this. “Mental health is a clinical issue. But many people do short-term courses, to train as life coaches and then give mental health advice,” says Dr Kapoor. She points out that all problems are lumped under depression. “There’s so much more to it… drug abuse, psychosis, phobias, anxiety. And just thinking positive, going for a walk or doing pranayam — as these so-called experts often advise — are not enough,” adds Dr Kapoor.Stuti Ashok Gupta, a clinical psychologist, says that some successful influencers who have had a tough life assume that their experience makes them competent enough to help out others. “I get a lot of requests for consults on social media, but I always refuse.” medium77083800Most influencer-turned-social media shrinks tell people to ‘talk it out’. While talking does help, it is presented as a magic wand. “People think that since in therapy the client talks and the therapist listens, that’s the way to go about it. But there are so many layers to this conversation. We are trained to correctly interpret what the client is saying and to identify triggers. Someone who is not qualified will not know how to listen properly,” says Gupta.Untitled Carousel 77061582