Mental health tech startup thymia is giving out free AI-powered “Mental Wellness Checks” to employees from this month, to empower employers to better understand and improve the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce ahead of World Mental Health Day.
Founded in 2020 by neuroscientist Dr Emilia Molimpakis and theoretical physicist Dr Stefano Goria, thymia has developed pioneering video game-inspired tools which use AI to spot signs of depression, anxiety and burnout by analysing “biomarkers” in voice, video and behaviour data.
From this month, thymia will be offering its Mental Wellness Check tool (officially known as Thymia Helios) to companies for free to help them assess and support the mental health of their teams. The tool is the only one of its kind that can identify the specific drivers of mental wellbeing like burnout, stress, tiredness, and confidence, by analysing a few seconds of speech alone. thymia’s AI models have been developed using over 170,000 minutes of voice data collected from almost 6,000 individuals: the largest dataset of its kind globally.
From today, companies can sign up on thymia’s website to obtain complimentary access to thymia’s online Mental Wellness Check tool for all their employees. Employers will get a unique URL to share with their employees, who simply need to follow the URL to access the tech.
The Mental Wellness Check involves completing a 30 second reading activity. The tool then uses AI to analyse the voice recording, including the pitch and pace of speech. The employee will see their own scores live, giving an instant overview of their mental wellbeing status. Once all employees have completed their check, the company will receive a “Mental Wellness Pulse” report with summary scores for their workforce’s stress, burnout, tiredness, irritability and confidence levels.
The technology has been designed to help employees better understand their wellbeing and spot changes in their mental health over time, so they can seek timely support either through their health provider or their workplace if they spot any changes. Studies show that early intervention can significantly improve mental health outcomes.
The technology also provides employers with anonymised insights to help them invest in the right wellbeing solutions for their teams to nurture happy and healthy minds, as well as track trends and provide suitable interventions if indicators flag any common issues, for example, if staff are experiencing high amounts of stress or burnout.
When signing up to access thymia’s free Mental Wellness Checks this month, employers will also be given bespoke tools and resources to engage their teams in World Mental Health Day activities, including posters, Slack and email templates, social posts and guidance on implementing effective mental health support at work.
The tool will be available for use for free on World Mental Health Day (10th October) and employers can sign up here to get involved.
Dr Emilia Molimpakis, neuroscientist and CEO and co-founder at thymia, comments:
“We are really excited to make thymia Mental Wellness Checks more widely available for World Mental Health Day – especially since this year’s theme is mental health is a universal human right so that many more companies and their employees can get a better handle on their mental health. It’s critical that we keep a close eye on our mental health – just as we do our physical health – and seek help quickly if we notice any changes. Employers also have a responsibility to pay closer attention to the mental health of their employees. After all, many of us spend the majority of our weeks at work, and work can play a big role in stress, anxiety and mental strain. By making mental health more easily measurable, and supporting employers to invest in the right interventions, we hope to improve mental health outcomes and reduce stigma surrounding mental health at work.”
Earlier this month, thymia launched a new frictionless “self-serve” platform which is already making it easier for employers to access AI-powered Mental Wellness Checks. Employers can integrate thymia’s Mental Wellness Check activity plugin within their own platforms and explore their suite of tools via their website now.