From left to right: Ethan Seow, Steven Chia, Amanda Faye Lim, James Lim, Julian Lim

As an undergraduate training to be a psychiatrist, Ethan Seow faced bouts of depression and experienced first-hand what it was like to struggle with a mental illness.

He sought help from psychologists, and was put on a treatment plan consisting of antidepressants and practical coping advice.

However, despite these treatments being medically sound, they did not solve his mental illness, and instead caused more irritation and anger. Ethan soon realised that he had to battle depression on his own and began developing ways to manage his mental state.

Ethan has since overcame his depression, and has been helping others through their battles with mental illness. With his medical background and strong passion, he founded Undelusional in January this year.

Undelusional is a tech company dedicated to providing deeper insights into the emotional wellness of employees. The current web platform incorporates their very own proprietary test - GREAT, measuring the emotional wellness of an individual.

A mobile-based platform is in the works that helps individuals map out their emotional states, behaviours and thought patterns, through the use of machine learning. There are further plans to build a marketplace to connect people to find instructors, coaches or therapists to help them develop emotional ownership.

In recent years, there is also an increasing number of young professionals who reach a point of burnout due to increase in workplace stress. According to studies, 72% of employers consider stress and mental health an issue affecting productivity, and 62% of organisations plan to implement mental health programmes in the future.

Mental illness is undoubtedly a difficult and sensitive topic to approach.

Ethan shares, “The biggest challenge has been to crystallise and integrate concepts from all the different fields. While there have been many great concepts from sociology, psychology, economics and philosophy, the sciences have diverged over the years and have become hard to relate to each individual.”

In the next 6 months, Undelusional will continue to develop and validate their proprietary tools and processes. As they engage with business owners and various stakeholders, the company aims to build a community and network of individuals who champion their ideology.

When asked to share some advice to budding entrepreneurs, Ethan emphasises the importance of being committed to solving the problem at hand.

“If you remain dedicated to the problem you’re trying to solve, you will be able to brave through the worst storms that the business will face.”

Visit Undelusional’s website to find out more about their work.

Undelusional is one of the successful recipients of the Startup SG Founder Grant, administered by TRIVE as their Accredited Mentor Partner (AMP).

From 24 April 2018, TRIVE has announced that it will administer the grant free-of-charge, without any requirement of sweat equity or payment.

Interested entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the grant at TRIVE’s website.