How to Make Money Helping People With Depression and Anxiety

Going through the rough patches of life can lead a person to feel sad, lonely and scared. These feelings are normal reactions to life’s stressors.

Individuals indeed tend to feel low and sad sometimes, but when it comes to people diagnosed with depression as a psychiatric disorder, the manifestations of the low mood are much more severe and they tend to persist. Report has it that depression and anxiety tend to occur more often in women than men.

Few differences in the manner in which the depressed mood manifests has been found to base on sex and age. In men, depression tends to show itself in form of tiredness, irritability and anger.

Men who are depressed may show more reckless behaviour and abuse drugs and alcohol. They also tend to not recognize that they are depressed and fail to seek help. While in women, depression manifests low key as sadness, worthlessness and guilt.

Also in younger children, depression is more likely to manifest as school refusal, anxiety when separated from parents, and worry about parents dying. Experts explain that depressed teenagers tend to be irritable, sulky, and get into trouble in school.

They also frequently have co-morbid anxiety, eating disorders, or substance abuse. In older adults, depression may manifest more subtly as they tend to be less likely to admit to the feelings of sadness or grief which are more common in this population.

Depression and anxiety disorders are different, but people with depression often experience symptoms similar to those of an anxiety disorder, such as nervousness, irritability, and problems sleeping and concentrating. Each disorder has its own causes and its own emotional and behavioural symptoms.

Most individuals who develop depression are said to have a history of an anxiety disorder earlier in life. There is no evidence that one disorder causes the other, but there is a clear evidence that many people suffer from both disorders.

There are different types of depressive disorders, and even though there are a lot of similarities among them, each depressive disorder has its own unique set of symptoms. According to reports, the most commonly diagnosed form of depression is Major Depressive Disorder.

In 2015, around 16.1 million adults aged 18 years or older in the U.S. had experienced at least one major depressive episode in the last year, which represented 6.7 percent of all American adults. Depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States among people ages 15-44.

Thinking about opening a mental health business already? In this article, we have listed the various means one can make money while helping those with depression or anxiety.

20 Ways to Make Money Helping People With Depression and Anxiety

1. Become a Psychometrist/Clinician

Note that a clinician is an individual who administers psychological testing and scores them. They work under a licensed psychologist and they are not allowed to interpret test results or give clinical assessments. You can work under the clinical setting wherein one has to administer clinical tests to patients, or you can offer your services to businesses to administer tests to applicants, employees, and/or students.

To run this business or venture into this field, you must be a graduate of clinical psychology, and have extensive knowledge about administration and scoring of standardized tests. According to research, you can expect an average base pay of around $10,000 to $20,000. Note that more experience can equal more pay.

2. Write an EBook

If you enjoy writing and have expertise to share, you can write and publish your own book. Although a single book won’t be fetch you a full-time income, you can write a series of books, or use your book as a lead generation tool to book speaking engagements or 1:1 clients.

Topics can range anywhere from dealing with a panic attack to improving communication with your partner to getting over the fear of public speaking. Use your mental health knowledge to put together an online book. It doesn’t have to be long. It just needs to be comprehensive enough to address the problem you want to solve. Now sell it on your website or get it on Amazon.

3. Create a blog and get affiliate links

Indeed there are many health and wellness blogs – and when done well, blogging still brings in substantial revenue and could even replace your full-time income if your site became popular enough. But have it in mind that simply writing a blog doesn’t generate income.

The key is in building your audience. Once you have a big enough audience and you’re a trusted, credible blog, you can then generate revenue through advertising, selling affiliate products or even creating your own online products and courses.

You can contact folks who are selling mental health products you believe would be a good fit for your audience (for example info products, books, online tools and resources, trainings, and workshops). You can promote their products on your blog or to your mailing list. Every time somebody purchases their product from your website, you get a cut of the revenue.

4. Start a comedy club

These clubs are a very popular entertainment venue, and there are a few approaches that can be taken in terms of starting one.

The first and most expensive option is to open a comedy club from a fixed location. The second and cheaper option is to establish a mobile comedy troop and book performances for nightclub engagements, seminar performances, weddings, universities, colleges, and many other special occasions.

Irrespective of the approach you choose, comedy clubs and acts are very popular as more and more people are seeking to reduce depression and ease anxiety through humor.

5. Create corporate retreats and workshops

This idea might be the most fun out of all of them. Retreats are becoming more and more popular. If you create a retreat centre in a location that you love, you can invite other wellpreneurs to run their own retreats at your centre. You can put those events together and charge a ton of money.

6. Become a Psychiatric Technician

When it comes to a clinical setting, one career you could choose is being a psychiatric technician. Psychiatric Technicians are always in charge of the patient’s overall mental wellness by keeping records and reporting the patient’s mental and emotional state to a medical staff.

These experts help in the personal hygiene, rehabilitation programs and administering of oral and injectable medications to mentally ill patients. This could be a physically demanding job but it offers a good average base pay of $22,000 to $47,000.

7. Become a Forensic Psychologist

These psychologists function in between psychology and the criminal justice system. To become a forensic psychologist, you must understand the standards of the justice system in order to be a credible witness. Ideally, the court designates the forensic psychologist as an expert witness and is duly assigned to evaluate if the defendant is competent in standing trial.

Note that the task of a forensic psychologist is to prove if the accused is sane or mentally ill through psychological questioning and testing. You will also be expected to translate his or her psychological findings in legal terms.

Your job will be to provide treatment recommendations, evaluate the defendant’s risk in behaviour, determine if the witness is credible, and recommend months or years of sentencing. Forensic psychologists usually work with the police force, law enforcement personnel, the State attorney, and public defenders. Salary varies in different states but usually averages from $45,000 to $75,000.

8. Health and Wellness Coach (or Holistic Health Counsellor)

A health coach helps clients to make sustainable, healthy changes in their life, based on that client’s personal goals and lifestyle. With the growing issue of depression and anxiety, health coaching is becoming a very popular business, because it can easily be complementary to other modalities or products.

For instance, a lot of wellpreneurs are yoga teachers and health coaches, or personal trainers and health coaches. One unique benefit of health coaching is that your schedule is quite flexible. You can work in-person or online, 1:1 or in groups, or package up your programs into online courses or books.

9. Create an app

If you’re into technology, why not partner with a developer to create an app that supports mental health and wellness? You could create an app for nutrition, fighting anxiety, fitness, healthy habits, quantified-self, buying guides, corporate wellness, connection with other health-minded people and more.

Take your mental health app idea and get it made. There are tons of companies and freelancers that will help you bring your app to life. It may be more affordable than you think.

10. Become a School Counsellor

If you prefer teaching or working in an educational setting, educational psychology, school psychology, and school counselling are the options to choose from. These positions are concerned with the overall mental welfare of the school’s employees and students.

Have it in mind that school counsellors work with troubled children, those with problems at home and in school. They help parents in addressing the concerns of their child. Report has it that the base pay of a school counsellor is around $50,000 annually. Earning potential could be increased with curriculum development.

11. Acupuncturist

Acupuncture is a holistic therapy which comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine, where you stimulate specific points on the body using very thin needles. Note that you will need extensive training to do this safely and it can also be complementary to other therapies or modalities such as health coaching, massage or aromatherapy.

12. Create and manage a YouTube channel

You can also make money by recording yourself giving mental health tips. You can ask your viewers to send you questions about depression and anxiety that they’d like to be answered. Try to be funny or unique in some way and start to gather followers.

Then sell ads on your channel once you have enough subscribers; or get picked up by a network and get your own show on TV or radio.

13. Become an Educational Psychologist

Psychologists who create learning materials and understand the aspects of human learning are called educational psychologists. These individuals could, for instance, improve one’s reading skills through a developed or new technique. They also assess the effects of educational interventions to learning and development.

A lot of educational psychologists focus on gifted children and those with disabilities. They strive to study individual differences in terms of intelligence, creativity, motivation and cognitive style. This is a profession that also works at a strategic level to carry out research in improving a school’s educational policy. Their base pay is around $66,000 to $108,000 depending on the state and years of experience.

14. Media Hub for Wellness

You can also make money by establishing a media site that becomes the ultimate source of a specific type of health information. With a media site, you can work with other experts as guest writers to create authoritative content for your site.

Just like any other online business idea mentioned in this article, your revenue potential starts when you’ve built a big enough audience for your site. Then you can sell advertising or affiliate products, run online courses, workshops or seminars, or branch out into books and other products to expand your online brand.

15. Become a Clinical Psychologist

According to reports, an average clinical psychologist’s salary ranges from $50,000 to $85,000. But you can expect your salary to be on the higher end if you already have your PsyD. The doctor of philosophy in psychology or Ph.D. on the other hand is the higher level of expertise in doctors.

It requires 3-6 years of study beyond bachelor’s degree and 2-4 years of study beyond master’s degree. Have it in mind there are many areas of specialization for a Ph.D. graduate. Earnings will highly depend on the chosen field. Advanced level of health psychologists for example receive an annual pay of around $85,000.

16. Start a podcast

Honestly, there just aren’t enough quality podcasts run by therapists. If you love to interview people and don’t mind the sound of your own voice, consider starting a mental health and wellness podcast. While the podcast alone doesn’t generate revenue, once you have an established audience you can sell sponsorships or advertising, recommend affiliate products, or even sell your own products and services through your podcast.

17. Mental Wellness centre, studio or clinic

A lot of wellpreneurs envisage creating a wellness centre. This business idea can be very lucrative and fun. You might create a large, professional clinic with numerous professionals, or a cosy natural wellness centre with an organic cafe and yoga studio.

When you setup a centre, studio or clinic, you have the opportunity to bring in other wellpreneurs to work with you (or to give classes or services in your centre.)

18. Join Talkspace

Talkspace is an app that people can use to talk or text a therapist throughout the week. As a licensed therapist, you can join and be one of those therapists. Note that taking on a small Talkspace caseload will provide you with additional revenue each month and help bring access to mental health services to new groups.

19. Open a Spa or become a massage therapist

The spa industry is well-established and lucrative. You could create a spa which provides clients with hydrotherapy as well as treatment rooms where other practitioners can provide their wellness services. Massage therapy is becoming a hugely popular route in the wellness industry.

A lot of people first become interested in massage because it feels so good, but they then realize that it’s a viable business option as well. Massage therapy complements many other modalities, such as aromatherapy or health coaching.

20. Become a Substance Abuse Counsellor

Reports have it that this is one of the fastest growing careers in the world. Here, one works with clients addicted to alcohol, cocaine, or any other illegal drugs. Note that to be qualified, you not only need an academic background, but you also need a strong personality to deal with patients undergoing recovery.

Have it in mind that some state laws in the United States require certification or licensure to be a substance abuse counsellor. The base pay of a substance abuse counsellor ranges from $25,000 to $40,000 depending on the state and years of experience.

Conclusion

There are many ways to make money while helping individuals suffering from depression and anxiety. You might need a psychology degree to excel in this line of business. Psychology isn’t just the study of behaviour; it is also the study of mental functions.

Those employed in this field consider it a science, and even an art. The main goal of psychology is to explain, predict, and control behaviour and mental processes. If you decide to get a degree in psychology, it is very pertinent that you understand the many subfields and specializations within this broad field.

You will also need to decide if it is truly a discipline you want to devote time to. If you enjoy helping individuals going through depression and anxiety, listening to them, interviewing/testing, analysing and collecting data, being social and creative, researching human and animal behaviour, then psychology is a career path for you.