Filipino-Australian entrepreneur Yuri Marshall relates the story of Mind You, his thriving mental-health technology company, and what needs to be done to improve the situation
It creeps up on you imperceptibly, it consumes you when you least expect it, you shrug it off and try to make sense of thoughts and emotions infiltrating your head all at once. Mental or neurological disorder affects at least 3.5 million Filipinos. Despite the high number, mental health remains a broad and sensitive topic that many people have a hard time keeping a firm grasp on.
Filipino-Australian Yuri Marshall was among the people who saw this problem. He has co-founded and chaired Mind You, a company that aims to provide affordable mental healthcare access to Filipinos.
Through heartfelt education and world-class counselling, Mind You strives to positively change the trend of mental health; rapid feedback systems and practices brought to the Philippines from advanced mental health facilities abroad facilitates the success of this goal. Mind You offers its services to local companies who want to put their employees under mental health first aid training, sessions with a licenced local psychologist, quarterly webinars and individual mental health assessments.
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“I think the evolution of mental health globally has actually progressed quite well in some regions of the world. I think the reason why is because being able to notice one’s behaviour gives us the ability to measure and create changes to shift their mindset,” Marshall tells Tatler.
Marshall has had his fair share of ups and downs. In 2019, he was on the brink of ending his life following a long-term relationship fallout. As luck would have it, a suicide hotline was available in his area. Marshall was able to receive proper mental health services and he lived to conceive Mind You with co-founder Michael Needham.
According to Marshall, the Philippines is still far behind when it comes to treating mental health disorders. He attributes this to the conservative practices embedded in most Asian cultures. “There is a huge cultural stigma on mental health in many Asian cultures,” he says. “The way I view mental health in the Philippines is that it needs to go beyond a conversation.”