Mental health: Making it easier to find help
The start-up mimaps is building a platform for psychological and psychosocial support services
Germany has a vast landscape of medical services, counselling centres, and self-help groups for people facing psychological challenges. But finding the right one can quickly turn into an obstacle course. Hannah Meudt and Moritz Knopf want to change that—with mimaps.
Roughly 28 percent of adults in Germany suffer from mental health conditions each year—most commonly anxiety disorders and depression, but also issues related to substance use or problematic alcohol consumption. There are also many support offerings. “However, many people struggle to find the right help for themselves or someone close to them,” says Hannah Meudt. “They start googling, click through a jungle of resources, compare qualifications and costs—and end up overwhelmed.” With mimaps, the psychologist aims to change that. “We’re building a platform for psychological and psychosocial support services,” she explains.
While studying psychology, Meudt was often approached by friends and acquaintances looking for guidance, she says. Most knew that psychotherapists often had long waiting lists. Few realised there were many other places offering help. That’s when she realised that this had to change.
Together with communications designer and developer Moritz Knopf, she launched mimaps just over a year ago. “Our platform is designed to make it easier to access comprehensive psychological support,” she sums up the project. Whether it’s anxiety, burnout, depression or internet addiction, people seeking help—or their family members—can use simple keywords to quickly find the right touchpoint. Professionals can also build stronger networks. “That’s another important mission for us because professionals who are well-connected can refer clients to the right support more quickly and effectively.” Meudt knows she’s not the first to have this idea. There are extensive online directories, she says, typically maintained by volunteers. While well-intentioned, it’s a heavy lift. “Let’s say a counselling centre hires a new staff member who also speaks Spanish,” she explains. “That information has to be emailed or phoned in, and then someone has to find time to update the directory.”
mimaps aims to make this process easier. Counselling centres, clinics, self-help groups —any organisation offering professional mental health support—can create a profile on the platform, list their services, and keep the information up to date themselves. For additional functionality, the team is planning a freemium model. “To really reflect the wide range of available services, we need to help organisations with limited funding to be visible,” she says. “Many counselling centres are facing budget cuts, and self-help groups often run on a shoestring.” Basic profiles with essential information will remain free of charge, while added features—such as increased visibility or networking tools—can be booked extra. “But for people seeking help, mimaps will always be completely free,” says the founder. “That’s something we care deeply about.”
Right now, mimaps is still in its early stages. Thanks to the Berliner Startup-Stipendium, a start-up grant they received last year, the small team has been working out of the Start-up Villa at Freie Universität Berlin in Dahlem. “Our first step was to get the technical foundation in place and get just over 70 service providers here in Berlin on board,” says Meudt. The plan is to expand far beyond Berlin. “We’re currently working to secure further funding—and then we’ll roll mimaps out across Germany.”
Kai Dürfeld for Potenzial