Release HN: Daybreak Health (YC S20)– Online counseling created for teens

I’m Alex, one of the cofounders of Daybreak Health (www.daybreakhealth.com) in addition to Luke and Sid. We help teens feel better, develop abilities for life and achieve their goals through online counseling. Our certified counselors provide evidence-based therapy to teens through online video sessions, messaging, and a mobile app.

The proof supports that behavioral therapy like CBT and DBT is effective. It works to treat diagnosable conditions like anxiety and anxiety, and it also works to assist youths feel better and achieve their objectives [1][2][3][4][5] Too frequently teens don’t get the mental health assistance they require due to the fact that it is stigmatized, challenging to schedule and attend, and pricey. At Daybreak we bring counseling to the teen on a digital device and we charge less than half the expense of a conventional treatment session.

In October of 2018, my younger bro almost lost his life due to the absence of accessible psychological health resources supporting our young people. He is not alone. 1 in 5 teens battle with a diagnosable mental health condition, but quotes suggest that up to 1 in 3 actually struggle with anxiety – or between 6 and 10 M overall teenagers [6][7] That implies the odds are greater than 50%that if you are the average moms and dad raising a family in America with 2 kids, one of your children will fight with a mental health condition in their teens.

To make matters worse, 80%of teenagers who require mental health assistance do not receive care today[8] This leads to weakening academic performance, increased rates of juvenile crime and drug abuse, and suicide rates that are at an all-time high. Every day, 17 young people dedicate suicide in the United States. It is the # 2 cause of death amongst 15-24 years of age, after accidental injury and ahead of murder[9] This isn’t a niche issue.

Our existing system makes mental health support nearly difficult to get for a teenager. Preconception makes it tough to admit to yourself you want assistance, not to mention discuss it with your parents. There is a shortage of therapists who specialize in teenagers, making it tough to discover a therapist that is close enough to drive to on a weekly basis. Personal practice treatment averages more than $200 per session. Even if you might afford to pay, you’re going to be met 2-3 month wait lists. And when you finally do get here, you rest on an uncomfortable sofa in an environment that you might not be comfortable in. That is why approximately 11 years pass between when a teenager first requires mental health support and when they ultimately start receiving it in their 20 s and even later [10].

That is why we began Daybreak Health. Everything we have actually developed is designed purposefully for teenagers and their parents. Teens can download the Daybreak mobile app and are quickly linked to a live guide (Mon-Fri 7am-7pm) who inquires about psychological health objectives and needs. After a video evaluation where we loop in the moms and dad, we create a plan and match teens with a counselor based upon objectives, requirements, interests, pastimes and more. As soon as matched with a therapist, teenagers meet with them once a week through a 50- minute video call, and can message them daily through the app. Our therapists help teens establish psychological life skills and work towards goals in a tailored strategy that has thematic concentrate on teen-specific locations like school, healthy relationships and more. Teens can also meet little moderated groups of other teens on those very same subjects. And parents are a core part of the procedure, beginning with the evaluation, through preparation and routine development reports. For all of this we charge an $89/ week subscription, less than half the price of a single 50- minute session in standard personal practice.

Dr. Neha Chaudhary, our lead Scientific Consultant, is a foremost professional on adolescent mental health and co-founder of Stanford’s Laboratory for Mental Health Innovation. Together with her and specialists from UCSF we have actually designed a program for teens grounded in medical science, while at the exact same time reimagining the way it is provided to teens. The core of our clinical program is rooted in evidence-based techniques like DBT and CBT, but we have taken these approaches and brought them into a quickly digestible online experience.

However there is an issue: preconception around mental health stops individuals from sharing their excellent experiences with counseling, so its benefit is under-appreciated. If you understand any parent or teenagers who may take advantage of counseling, ensure they understand about its benefits. And if you have thoughts about how to fix the awareness issue, or any stories you can share that may assist us better comprehend the requirements of teens and moms and dads, we would be grateful. Thank you!

Sources:

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00057 …

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3073681/

[3] https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/101111/ j.1475 …

[4] https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/101111/ camh.1 …

[5] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/101080/0963823060118209 …

[6] https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/access.html#ref

[7] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disor …

[8] https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/access.html#ref

[9] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml

[10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361014/

Check out us at www.daybreakhealth.com

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