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The dialogue around mental health has further opened up amid the COVID-19 pandemic with people locked up in their homes, along with anxiety around health, jobs, finances, and more.

WHO estimates that 7.5 percent of Indians suffer from mental illnesses. Data further suggests that almost 56 million Indians suffer from depression and another 38 million from anxiety disorders.

After being diagnosed with Adult ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), entrepreneur Manun Thakur realised that many suffering from mental illness are unaware of it.

To fill this gap and help people, he launched a chain of superlative luxury rehabilitation centres Veda Rehabilitation and Wellness in 2020.

Manun tells YS that these rehab centres not only provide all-round care to residents but also work with only five residents at any given point of time to ensure that doctors work one-on-one with them, providing their full attention. Veda aims to ensure that the doctor or counsellor to client ratio remains 1:1.

Luxury rehabilitation centres

The first Veda centre was launched last year in Mumbai, and Manun is looking to launch a second one in Bengaluru in the next few months.

“We started with Mumbai and we have a nice three-storied villa spaced across 12,000 sq ft. We worked with experts and created our own protocols. We provide Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) therapy, where doctors and counsellors work with residents to help them in their interpersonal and communication skills,” he says.

Veda claims to be focusing on alcohol de-addiction services, substance de-addiction service, prescription drugs’ de-addiction service, and treatment of co-occurring clinical disorders such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and impulse control disorder among others.

The centres also have in-house chefs available to cook nutritional food for the residents. Apart from this, the therapy is designed to keep it entertaining, with art and music classes.

“At Veda, we provide five counselling sessions per week,” he says. The duration of stay differs depending on the needs of the resident.

Abhishek Gowda, the in-house Psychologist and Centre Admin at Veda, explains that the aim is to remove the stigma around rehab centres. Veda provides personalised care and attention to residents to help them open up, talk, and feel at home while experiencing the best positive changes in their lives.

Manun adds that Veda provides evidence-based therapy to its residents, who undergo assessment tests to understand the kinds of counselling or therapy that would suit them best. Residents can also bring their personal items to continue their daily work or schooling from the centre itself.

“Many people are sceptical about medication while undergoing mental health issues. At Veda, we try to understand the client’s concerns and fears regarding treatment, need for medications, side effects, etc., and spend ample time explaining all aspects of the treatment plan. This helps to put them at ease since they are actively participating in their mental wellness journey,” explains Dr Deepti Kukreja, Consulting Psychiatrist at Veda Rehab and Wellness.

Making mental healthcare available to all

According to a TBRC report, the Indian psychiatry market was valued at around $1.6 billion, accounting for 0.8 per cent of the global share in 2019.

Besides Veda, other companies such as Alpha Healing Centre, Safe House Wellness Retreat, and Sanctum Wellness, also offer luxury rehab facilities.

At present, Veda is focusing on building high-end luxury rehab centres to establish the standard of care it wants to provide. Its services are available for Rs 5 lakh per month.

Manun reveals that Veda is working on a top-down approach, where it is building its luxury brands first. It will then move to mass and cost-effective mental healthcare services.

“My actual plan is to open five luxury rehab centres and then open mass rehab centres in about a year from now using the same knowledge, information, and experience, which will be catering to someone who may be able to pay Rs 50,000 per month and avail almost the same quality of care. But I can do this only after I have launched the luxury centres because it will be difficult to launch the mass centres first and then upscale it to luxury rehabs,” he says.

This, he explains, is because, in the case of luxury centres, he will need to risk it on a smaller sized property that can cater to only five people. However, in the case of mass rehab centres, Manun will need to invest in bigger sized buildings to be able to house and work with maybe around 50 people.

“Before taking the higher risk, I want to be more confident about the services and the quality of care that we can deliver,” he adds.