There are 150% more advertisements in the regions: why is the psychotherapy market in Russia growing?

sharp increase in demand

Russians became more and more interested in the services of psychologists and psychotherapists. In April 2022, demand for such specialists across the country increased by 81% compared to April 2021. Ivan Chulkov, head of marketing projects at Avito Services, told socialbites.ca that the number of offers from professional psychologists is also increasing.

“Ads in Russia increased by 106% in the same period. The average price for an hour’s consultation with a specialist at Avito Services in the country starts from 1.5 thousand rubles. This figure has not changed in the past months,” he said.

At the same time, another interesting fact was noticed in the Profi specialist search service: since the beginning of 2022, the number of registrations of private psychologists from the regions has increased sharply on the portal. At the same time, most experts in this field still live in large cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg and others.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of registrations of specialists from Kazan (+160%), Krasnodar (+148%), Rostov-on-Don (+16%), Yekaterinburg (+96%) and Novosibirsk (+71%) is significant increased substantially).

“But the place of residence does not always prevent specialists from working with clients from other cities. The Profi press service said that online consultations through video calls are becoming more popular every year.

three reasons

Avito Services and Profi work are available from medical centers, websites, associations, etc. does not save data. Psychotherapist Ravil Nazyrov in an interview with socialbites.ca emphasized that, therefore, the increase in Russian demand for psychotherapeutic services from the beginning of 2022 could be doubled or even tripled.

“The first reason for this growth is the complete virtualization of psychotherapeutic and psychological services due to the coronavirus in Russia. Second, each of us is coping with varying degrees of effectiveness with the social stress of the past two years due to the pandemic. But before we had time to recover from the consequences of the pandemic, a special military operation began in Ukraine. “Recent international events are of course adding to a high degree of psychological instability and tension,” said Nazyrov.

The third reason, in his opinion, is related to the peculiarities of the distant intellectual work of some Russians. Most Russian apartments do not have a separate office for business activities.

“This has led to a spike in cases of psychological stress in families, as evidenced by the increase in the number of divorces. Families are now under great stress. Sharing a workspace with spouses and children is very difficult. In most Russian apartments, there is no separate office for business activities, ”says Nazyrov.

Increasing Interest in Online Applications

Due to busy work schedules and lack of free time, Russians are increasingly showing interest in practicing psychology online. Olga Troitskaya, developer of digital psychotherapy programs and founder of iCognito, a Skolkovo resident, suggested that an additional reason could be general depression in society in recent months.

“We are seeing a 27% increase in demand for the Anti-Depression program, while demand for the rest of the Anti-Stress and Relationship programs has remained the same. Our programs work as mobile apps with a built-in digital psychotherapy program (fully automated) and a chat with a psychologist. But Western sanctions also greatly affected us, ”complained Troitskaya.

He noted that former Russians made up only 65% ​​of users, with the remaining 35% from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and dozens of other countries. Troitskaya’s company can no longer accept payments for the services of psychologists from abroad, and Russian users cannot pay for subscriptions in the application stores Google Play and Appstore. As a result, the number of foreign users has fallen sharply recently.

“The breakthrough will be technologies that will significantly reduce the cost of psychotherapy for users. Today, the number of people suffering from mental disorders – depression, anxiety and stress – is increasing, and high-quality psychotherapy remains a luxury service available only to the most affluent citizens, residents of large cities ” ‘ Troitskaya summed up.

Live consultations are not cheap

If the Russians seriously want to pass well psychotherapy, they will need more than an hour of consultation with a medical psychologist or psychotherapist, Troitskaya is convinced. A full course could cost Russians a round sum comparable to the monthly earnings level of a portion of the population, he said.

To overcome the disorder, it is necessary to undergo a course of psychotherapy – at least 10 sessions, on average 3 thousand rubles (telemedicine) and up to 5 thousand rubles per hour (in medical clinics). A person has to pay 30-50 thousand rubles, which is comparable to the average monthly salary in Russia. Most Russians can’t afford it,” Troitskaya explained.

He also added that the cost of psychotherapeutic services has prompted Russians to resort to anti-depressants, which are much cheaper than full therapy.

“It is cheaper to buy anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs (600-1000 rubles per month). Of course, they will remove the symptoms for a while, but they will not solve the psychological problems of depression. Or use a folk “antidepressant”—alcohol, which actually only worsens depression and anxiety,” Troitskaya summed up.

Online apps are not a panacea

Russians are interested in such practices mainly due to the fact that the country has an underdeveloped culture of resorting to psychologists or psychiatrists. Alexei Abramov, a member of the Russian Association of Psychiatrists, said that citizens try to solve things on their own by conducting certain tests or chatting online with a specialist.

“To determine if there are any mental abnormalities, we still need to test the patient, facial expressions, tone, rate of speech, tone of voice, etc. Must see. Even when it comes to video communication, the overall picture of the problem is distorted. When there is correspondence without video communication, everything becomes even more sad, ”Abramov emphasized.

There are many different mental disorders with similar individual characteristics. Only a doctor can accurately determine the deviation. He added that without live consultations, Russians would be confused about the symptoms, thereby triggering the real course of the disease.

“The whole problem is the similarity of symptoms. The specialist can determine the most obvious, find the causes and make the correct diagnosis. The layman will notice that this or that symptom corresponds to this or that disease, and will be able to attribute to a person something that he does not have, “he said.

Only a medical psychologist is qualified to work with people suffering from mental disorders, he added.

“But unfortunately, many traditional psychologists still take such patients for consultation. Thus, on the contrary, they only worsen the situation. The longer the disorder, whether mental or physical, lasts without help, the worse it gets. This is usually a banal desire to earn extra money. But among psychologists there are those who believe that they can help the patient, ”says Abramov.