GIMBHI‘s Q&A with Blue Light Health’s Founder, Dr. Avi Jayaraman

Dr. Avinash Jayaraman, MD, a physician, and the cofounder & CEO of Blue Light Health. Dr. Jayaraman is a psychiatry researcher at the medical centers of the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Illinois Chicago. In addition to his work as an entrepreneur and researcher, he is supporting Seae Ventures as a Venture Capital Fellow, and MedMountain Ventures as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He is currently a full-time MBA candidate at The Wharton School, majoring in Health Care Management.

Prior to pursuing his MBA, Dr. Jayaraman served as the cofounder and Chief Growth Officer at Sonara Health, leading the company’s early sales and fundraising efforts - successfully securing over $6M in investments from the National Institutes of Health, VCs, health plans, and business magnates including Venkat Rangan and Mark Cuban. Sonara’s software is currently deployed in over 50 clinics across 15 states. He was also a co-inventor of the company’s patented life-saving technology, which he did during his final year of medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He holds a BA in Mathematics and Psychology from Northwestern University. With a disciplined entrepreneurial approach that combines rigorous clinical validation with lean operations and empathetic leadership, Dr. Jayaraman is poised to tackle the largest problems in behavioral health today.

Why did you start Blue Light Health?

I've spent years watching technology create mental health issues for entire generations of people. Anecdotally, I haven’t spoken with a single person in the last several years who thinks their own screen time is “fine.” The problem is worse in younger generations, as kids are being exposed to screens at younger ages, and platforms that are more addictive than ever before.

The data around technology overuse is clear, and staggering: users of social media face a 300% increased risk of depression compared to non-users, and the prevalence of mental health issues in kids is rising at an unprecedented rate. I believe what’s happening with technology has the potential to be devastating.

What shocked me most was learning that only a handful of clinicians (physicians, psychologists, therapists) have received specialized training in treating patients where technology overuse might be contributing to their mental health. The knowledge is out there, but as is often the case, focusing on curating and scaling best practices is the only way to make a dent in this rapidly ballooning issue.

We’ve teamed up with Dr. Dimitri Christakis, MD, the current editor-in-chief of JAMA Pediatrics, and Dr. Kaylee Kruzan, PhD, an expert researcher at Northwestern University who specializes in developing digital health interventions for adolescents and young adults. A problem this pervasive deserves a team that is all-in on fixing it.


How is Blue Light Health different?

Blue Light Health is fundamentally different because we’re building an entire mental healthcare ecosystem specifically for high-engagement digital natives. Our generation’s perceptions of time, relationships, and sometimes reality itself, have shifted fundamentally due to the increasing role of technology in every aspect of our daily lives. Traditional training does not equip therapists for this reality; even the leading models of addiction treatment for substance abuse haven’t yet accounted for the fact that our phones are intertwined with every facet of our day-to-day lives. Most of us simply can’t go cold-turkey from our phones.

Our platform integrates three critical elements missing in today's mental healthcare. First, we only hire highly-specialized therapists trained in our PESI-certified course on technology addiction and internet culture. Second, we’re developing treatment protocols and novel interventions specifically targeting technology-related mental health issues. And third, we’re building a behavioral analytics engine that enables continuous assessment of patient patterns. Our system gives therapists unprecedented clinical insight into the relationship between a patient's technology use and their mental health.

Traditional, generalized mental health care is not sufficient for the issues that digital natives face. We’re building a new treatment model from the ground-up. Drawing from decades of inpatient treatment insights, we’re creating an accessible care model that meets patients where they are.


What do you see happening in the next decade when it comes to our nation's mental health?

The next decade will bring about a mental health crisis of unprecedented scale, largely driven by AI integration into consumer technology. We're already seeing alarming signals, and things will get worse. It’s our biological “lizard” brains against AI algorithms designed to break us. They will continue to exploit our psychological vulnerabilities with unprecedented precision and efficiency. Future AI will understand your insecurities, your triggers, and your emotional patterns far better than you do yourself. Arguably, that’s already the case.

Beyond the time wasted online, the digital world is becoming indistinguishable from reality, especially for young people. When relationships, self-worth, and perception of the world are seen through corporate-owned technology, mental health becomes unavoidably linked to our digital experiences. Kids are particularly vulnerable because their brains are still developing. We're already seeing skyrocketing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among adolescents who grew up with smartphones and social media.

The hard truth is that there will be many more casualties. This will get worse before it gets better.

Healthcare systems are completely unprepared for this tsunami. In fact, the world is unprepared for what’s to come. We are raising entire generations that are sadder, less attentive, less empathetic, more anxious, and ultimately, who are becoming intolerant of in-person interaction. This isn’t only a healthcare issue; it’s one of the most dire problems of our time that will impact our safety, security, and our society at large.

This is why Blue Light Health is so critical right now.

Subscribe to news and reports about mental health startups & mental health investors at gimbhi.substack.com