Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lavik Jain & Shivansh Nikhra. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lavik Jain & Shivansh Nikhra, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
A lot of the roots of our initiative were discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were shut down, so we had the extra time to explore machine learning (which was of our interest at the time). Mental health was all the talk, so it was naturally on our minds as well. Most of all, almost all interaction was online, so we realized that some people were more expressive on social media than they were in-person.
That’s when we realized that we could harness machine learning to detect suicidal individuals that didn’t know where to find help. So that’s why we started developing this software that bridges the gap between those in need and the help they needed. And that’s how SuicideWatch was born.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
We have built a system that, with artificial intelligence, detects suicidal sentiment in social media posts, and then connects those suicidal individuals with mental health support. Today, we have helped 600+ suicidal social media users from 47 cities across the nation with a patent pending on our product. But we aren’t done. We want to continue to expand our reach. So if you or someone you know may be able to provide services to suicidal individuals, please reach out to us. We are looking forward to making great things happen!
We would like to thank the MHA of Dutchess County, Denton County MHMR, Texas Health and Human Services, Wylie Police Department, Frisco Police Department, and Irving Police Department. These organizations helped us navigate the world of suicide prevention, improve our software, and come up with new ideas. Most importantly, without their support, we wouldn’t be able to connect the suicidal social media users we find with assistance. Their advice and support were crucial to fueling our project to success.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
We certainly did face a lot of challenges in seeing SuicideWatch touch the lives of others. Even once we had a completely functioning software, we spent months on end in efforts to find mental health organizations—across the nation and close to home—that could help the suicidal individuals we detected.
But whether they be an organizations’ limited resources or federal regulations, something or another would bar us from seeing our first partnership and ability to actually save lives. That didn’t stop up from keeping at it. After months of networking with police departments, crisis hotlines, and various mental health councils, we were connected to our first partner: the Wylie Police Department. Once we had a functioning proof of concept, we could show the world what we were actually doing. From there, one connection led to the next, which led to the next.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
The number one thing we tell ourselves when we face challenges is that they are just opportunities for growth. It shifts your mindset from one of stress toward one looking toward possibility. After all, those who achieve success are not defined by how they perform when it is easy. Anyone can do well in those situations. What differentiated people is how they react to times of difficulty or how they bounce back from failure. Sticking to this mindset has helped us and we think it can help anyone toward achieving their goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.projectsuicidewatch.org/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/suicidewatch/
Image Credits
Lavik Jain