Growing need for mental wellness in the Age of AI

Mumbai, Dec 16

As India experiences rapid AI-led digital acceleration, we’re seeing rising cognitive overload, burnout, emotional fatigue, and clinical severity especially among professionals and young adults.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Shradha Salla, Life Coach, Wellness & Astro-Vastu Expert & Founder, ‘I Love Me’ says, “In a world where technology is evolving faster than the human mind can process, emotional wellbeing has become the real currency of stability. India is at the centre of this shift hyperconnected, fast-growing, ambitious, and increasingly digitally overwhelmed. Today’s AI-driven lifestyles demand a new level of mental resilience, conscious self-care, and guided emotional support.”

People aren’t stressed because life has become harder they’re stressed because the mind has no space to pause. AI has accelerated everything except our ability to emotionally process what we’re experiencing, she said.

With constant alerts, 24/7 availability, algorithmic pressure, and an endless stream of micro-decisions, cognitive overload is becoming a silent epidemic.

AI has made information instant, but it has also made clarity scarce. The mind is consuming more than it can digest.

The emotional cost is showing up as anxiety, irritability, burnout, decreased attention span, and reduced emotional bandwidth especially in urban India, where digital lives often overshadow real ones.

The solution isn’t to disconnect from the digital world it’s to consciously reconnect with yourself.

Individuals need to build digital hygiene the same way they build physical hygiene. This means

setting boundaries around screen time practising intentional pauses.

Digital overload can be managed only by digital discipline. Technology will not slow down for us we must learn to slow down for ourselves.

Mindfulness is no longer a wellness trend it’s a survival skill for the mind.

Practices like breathwork, meditation, journaling, and emotional awareness are becoming essential.

In a world that demands constant outward attention, mindfulness is the only tool that pulls you back inward.

Self-reflection is especially important in the AI era because people are losing touch with their inner compass.

When algorithms start predicting our choices, self-reflection becomes the only way to reclaim our autonomy.

Guided coaching is becoming essential because people need a safe space to think, feel, and reset. AI can give information, but it cannot give understanding.

Coaching offers structured emotional support helping individuals process overwhelm, develop mental habits, and build a balanced inner foundation.

People don’t need more data they need direction. Coaching provides that clarity.

As India rapidly embraces AI-led living from workplaces to homes the demand for emotional grounding is only going to grow.

In the age of artificial intelligence, emotional intelligence is our biggest competitive advantage.

Prerna Khetrapal, Founder, Kaizen Wellness says, “We're living in a world where everything moves faster AI has accelerated work, communication, even how we consume information. And honestly? Our nervous systems weren't built for this pace.”

They're stuck in survival mode way more than they should be. That's where mindful luxury comes in. I'm talking about practices rooted in slowness, intention, and actually being present. Things like breathwork, sound therapy, or even just sitting down for a proper meal without your phone. These aren't indulgences, they're signals to your body that it's safe to come down from high alert.

And here's the thing: when your nervous system is regulated, everything else gets easier. You think more clearly. You lead better. You show up as a more grounded version of yourself.

AI has made so much of life more efficient, no question. But it's also made our inner world noisier. There's constant information coming at us, endless micro-decisions, tabs open everywhere, literal and mental. It's a lot.

Grounding rituals are how we cut through that noise. Even sixty seconds of breathwork, a short walk outside, or just putting your phone down for a bit can reset your attention and bring back some clarity.

These small practices used to feel like nice-to-haves. Now? They're non-negotiable if you want to function well in a world that's always "on."

The 1% Shift is simple: choose the smallest possible action that moves you toward calm. One deeper breath. One meal where you actually taste your food. One hour without a screen. That's it.

These micro habits build emotional stability over time. They're a gentle counterweight to the constant rush of digital life, and they work because they're sustainable.

At Kaizen, she went on, we approach mental clarity through the body. Pilates for grounding. Breathwork for nervous system regulation. Ice baths, infrared therapy, and sound healing for deep restoration.

Each modality does something different, but they all point toward the same thing: helping your nervous system reset. And when your body feels safe, your mind follows. Focus sharpens. Emotions stabilise. Creativity flows more easily.

It's not about pushing harder, it's about creating the conditions where clarity can actually emerge.

The faster technology moves, the more deliberate we have to be about slowing down. Slowness isn't a luxury anymore, it's a strategy.

I'm talking about unhurried meals. Quiet mornings before the inbox takes over. Mindful movement. Time outside without a podcast in your ears.

These practices aren't about rejecting technology. They're about buffering ourselves against its intensity so we can stay grounded, stay connected to ourselves, and stay human in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Dr Amit Malik, Founder & CEO, Amaha says, “In India today, we’re facing a very real shift in the nature of mental health concerns. Increasingly, people are presenting with conditions that are more complex, more acute, and more deeply intertwined with stress, burnout, sleep disruption, and emotional dysregulation much of it amplified by an always-connected, AI-accelerated world.”

In this context, I believe structured, evidence-based clinical care has become essential. Self-help tools can be useful for early awareness and support, but they simply cannot replace assessment, diagnosis, or treatment for moderate to severe conditions. When someone is struggling with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, severe depression, trauma, addiction, or high-risk symptoms, they need a clinically governed system not fragmented advice, he said.

Technology can play a meaningful role, but only when it supports not substitutes clinical care. Digital platforms allow us to monitor symptoms, offer continuity between sessions, personalise interventions, and reach people who may not otherwise seek help. In a world shaped by AI and digital acceleration, this kind of hybrid model becomes increasingly important. People need both accessibility and clinical depth, he said.

My view is that tech-enabled care works best when it is integrated into a larger ecosystem not as a standalone solution, but as part of a continuum that includes therapists, psychiatrists, families, and, when necessary, hospital-level care, he added.