“When it comes to mental health, all countries are developing countries,” believes Shekhar Saxena, the director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. Prasannajeet Mane, 29, could not agree more. As the founder and CEO of Cerina, a personalised mental health app in the UK, Prasanna (as Mane calls himself) is well aware of the need for regular citizens in the UK to access clinically approved mental health services to help combat their everyday reality. Such a need is even more pressing in India, where one in every five individuals suffers from some form of mental illness. India is also the suicide capital of the world, with more than 2.6 lakh cases of suicide every year.
As an undergraduate student of mechanical engineering at IIT Gandhinagar, Prasanna developed severe symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), leading to multiple suicide attempts. At the time Prasanna had no idea what OCD was or that he had it. Back in his small village of Satara in Maharashtra, where he was born and brought up, knowledge of mental health was non-existent. It was only after a proper diagnosis and hospitalisation that Prasanna realised that he suffered from clinical, acute OCD. “The diagnosis changed my thinking and philosophy. I was relieved, since I had been blaming myself till then, cursing my supposed sins in my previous lives. I realised that there’s something called mental health, mental illness and OCD. I became curious and went on a relentless pursuit of understanding the brain, emotions and mental health. My diagnosis became a catalyst for reshaping my life and goals. It made me a different human being,” recollects Prasanna, whose slow, measured voice over video call makes his story even more poignant.
Aspiring to build the ‘world’s most accessible, trusted and “human” mental healthcare app’
It was at London Business School that Prasanna’s idea of Cerina acquired shape Wikimedia Commons
Following his graduation in India, Prasanna got an opportunity to work as a researcher at the University of Reading, where he studied the impact of autism and how its screening can be shaped by machine learning. It was there that the seeds of Cerina were born, but it was at London Business School (LBS) that Prasanna forged his idea into a commercially feasible product. “My MSc in Analysis and Management at LBS was a game-changing experience. It helped me build a leadership mind and an entrepreneurial self, giving me exposure to a variety of cultures and attitudes. It took my insights as a researcher and put them into action,” says Prasanna, who was also the founder of the Peer Support Group (PSG) for Mental Well-Being while at LBS. PSG aimed to educate the LBS community to “address and discuss mental health issues in an efficient and thoughtful way, showcasing application in both professional and personal worlds”. In hindsight, PSG became a stepping stone for Prasanna on his journey to Cerina, which formally launched in October 2020, aspiring to be the “world’s most accessible, trusted and ‘human’ mental healthcare app, driven by the best technology and expertise”.
Etymologically, Cerina comes from serotonin (a neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of happiness) and the word ‘serene’. “We didn’t want to go with Serena, since that’s a common first name. Our chief psychologist suggested Cerina and that stuck,” adds Prasanna. Equipped with “clinical rigour that goes beyond generic advice and surface-level intervention”, Cerina has been certified by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK. In a market that is flooded with mental health apps, Cerina stands out, first and foremost, by being “clinical, safe and regulated”. Then there is its unique modus operandi — Cerina offers medical-grade therapy tailored to the needs of clients, uses evidence-based screenings to identify the severity of mental health symptoms and can already treat people with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), with more disorder-specific treatments to come.
Underpinned by CBT, Cerina uses algorithms, including AI-powered ones
Cerina uses AI as well as human expertise to provide self-directed therapy TT archives
With its present clientele focused on the student population between 18 and 25 in the UK, Cerina can be used as a tool for self-guided therapy as early intervention as well as in tandem with face-to-face therapy. The app, which can be easily downloaded through the Google Play Store or the App Store, is underpinned by the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) framework. Encompassing a range of techniques and approaches that deal with one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviours, CBT is, in Prasanna’s words, “evidence-driven and objective”, though he remains open to other schools of therapy that can be effective and inclusive.
Once Cerina has detected the necessary symptoms in a user via its screening process, it uses algorithms (including AI-powered ones) to provide self-directed delivery of therapy. As with any responsible mental health facility in the physical world, there are sign-posting and emergency alert provisions on Cerina, too, so as to identify and report suicidal or harmful tendencies among users. With a “core architecture that’s self-guided with the right human oversight”, Cerina is presently focusing on businesses and employers as well as educational institutions in the UK.
‘I’m thoroughly enjoying all the challenges I’m facing right now’
“I’d love to do something for my home country,” says Prasanna about his plans of bringing Cerina to India Prasannajeet Mane
Empathy and efficiency are mutually inclusive, feels Prasanna, going against the grain of conventional corporate wisdom that dictates that feelings be put aside in the workplace. “Empathy is a part of being human, which means that it’s tied to our productivity and work satisfaction. Corporates are starting to realise that they can empathise with their employees better by making Cerina accessible to them confidentially. It’s a thoughtful and considerate decision that produces better results,” explains Prasanna.
In the aftermath of Covid-19, mental health has come to the forefront in most fields of life in the UK, from politics and sports to business and fashion. In such a climate, Prasanna is quietly optimistic of Cerina’s growth trajectory, with tentative plans to eventually enter the Middle East, South Asian and European markets. India, too, is on Prasanna’s mind, as “I’d love to do something for my home country”. However, making a foray outside the UK involves dealing with “regulatory landscapes and competitors, engaging with governments and private stakeholders”, all of which is, in different ways, rather challenging.
Prasanna, of course, is no stranger to challenges. Be it dealing with financial hardship in his formative years or running from pillar to post to secure funding for Cerina (whose current board of executive advisors includes UK-based Kolkatan Manik Dey), Prasanna’s life has been all about taking on the odds and prevailing. His latest challenge is to reach as many clients for Cerina as possible and design a stable revenue system. But Prasanna is not worried. In fact, “I’m thoroughly enjoying all the challenges I face right now”, for Prasanna has reached a stage where he knows what he wants and how to get there. With Cerina, Prasanna hopes, more and more people can do the same.
