A Saudi-based digital platform aiming to combat the stigma around mental health has revealed it has seen a surge in demand during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Although one in three people in Saudi Arabia has suffered from mental health disorders in their lifetime, only 5 percent have visited a psychiatrist or psychologist, said Labayh’s CEO Basim Albeladi, quoting the 2019 Saudi National Mental Health Survey.
“The main challenge in dealing with mental health issues in Saudi Arabia is not about access to treatment but privacy and the medium. By this we mean people are not comfortable visiting clinics: there is a stigma around mental health issues in the region, to be honest,” said Albeladi.
Saudi-based Labayh is a digital platform trying to tackle this issue by “connecting patients with psychologists and psychiatrists easily and anonymously through texts and phone calls”, explained Albeladi.
The pandemic created a surge in demand for Labayh as the 120 mental health practitioners on the online platform carried out 25,000 consultations last year alone.
“There has been a huge spike in patients following corona. All of a sudden our living accommodations also became the places where we work and study not to mention the stress of dealing with the economic and job uncertainty the country was passing through during the pandemic,” said Albeladi.
Labayh’s CEO Basim Albeladi
“Right now Labayh has clients from all across the MENA region as well as Arabic speakers from outside the MENA region and the app has 150,000 downloads,” he added.
Accessibility of mental health facilities is another challenge which Labayh addresses through its online business model.
“Most of the clinics are in the main cities. If you don’t live in one of the five main cities in Saudi Arabia, it is really difficult to find a psychiatrist or psychologist in your area. The same is true of most of the countries in the region,” said Albeladi.
Established in 2017, Labayh has been licensed to operate by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health. Patients reserve and pay for their online appointments through the app and Labayh takes a 30 percent commission per consultation fee from its therapists.
Workplace induced stress is the biggest issue that mental health practitioners with Labayh deal with
Workplace induced stress is the biggest issue that mental health practitioners with Labayh deal with and the digital platform offers one to one sessions, group therapy and workshops on common mental health issues.
Future plans for Labayh include securing therapists from each of the countries they have patients in as “a cultural understanding of issues is an important aspect of therapy,” said Albeladi.
Payment facilities where patients can book a consultation and pay two weeks later are also in the works to make treatment more accessible for those who need it, said Albeladi.
Albeladi was speaking to Arabian Business as part of Expo 2020’s Health and Wellness Week, a series of Expo-led thematic weeks that seek to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, hosted in collaboration with Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
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