Manga, a 24×7 helpline and AI: How India is piloting new mental health support network for BRICS

India brings its own experience to the table, particularly with tele-mental-health services that can plug into the existing healthcare system.

6 min readNew DelhiSep 25, 2026 08:54 AM IST First published on: Sep 25, 2026 at 08:41 AM IST

A 17-year-old Chinese schoolgirl, Xiaoyu, watches her grades collapse as severe anxiety and depression take hold. Afraid that a diagnosis could bring shame to her family and hurt her university prospects, she suffers in silence. Her mother dismisses her exhaustion as laziness. It is only when an empathetic classmate steps in, understands her distress and helps her reach a community counselling clinic that Xiaoyu begins to understand that mental illness is not a failure of character.

In an educational manga created to tackle mental-health stigma in China, a doctor explains it through a simple metaphor: a mental health condition, like a broken leg, may require treatment and support. By the end, Xiaoyu has returned to school with tools to manage her condition — and is helping another struggling student seek support.