We take a peek inside metaverse mental health counselling
Stats show more and more young people are turning to the internet to find support for their mental health
A charity has launched a new service to provide mental health counselling in the online world to "bridge the gap" between young people and NHS services.
Stats from Ditch the Label show one in three 18-25 year olds has turned to social media to look for mental health support.
That puts it second on a list of mental health resources, behind the NHS.
The survey also found:
- 33% of young people struggle to access mental health support in the UK
- 48% said that waiting times were the biggest barrier to getting help
- 82% of 18-25 year olds have sought, or are considering mental health support
Mental Health Counselling in the metaverse
Ditch the Label has told us its responding to the new demand by launching counselling in the online world known as the metaverse.
It means therapy sessions will be piloted over the internet, with characters, or avatars, representing the young person and a trained clinician or psychologist in a room that might look a bit like this:
Users can design their own space and their own character to help make them feel more comfortable about opening up.
CEO Liam Hackett told our Mental Health Monday Podcast: "We hear from young people all the time that there are extremely long waiting lists on the NHS, many young people are not in a position to get a private therapist and it leaves people incredibly vulnerable for a considerable amount of time.
"If you were going to sit in front of a stranger, in a therapist's office, for a lot of people that can be really intimidating too.
"When you have a virtual avatar, it makes it much easier for some people to open up."
Liam says it's important that if young people are looking for support online, that the people who respond or provide resources are clinically trained and know how to help.
He said: "It's worrying because as a culture we perceive someone to be qualified based on the amount of followers that they have, not actually based on their credentials.
"It can leave people incredibly vulnerable."
Ditch the Label has teamed up with Maybelline UK as part of the Brave Together initiative to provide 17,500 free hours of one-to-one support over the next two years.
The project's already helped more than one million people globally get free access to mental health support.
Listen to the full conversation on the Mental Health Monday Podcast