Social media often serves as a highlight reel in this digital age, showcasing the best moments of people’s lives, but Joseph Bamisile is one of those thoughtful visionaries who saw an opportunity to create something different—an app that fosters genuine mental wellness and community support. He came up with Maunda, the first social media app that focuses on mental health and includes features that help to reduce stress, manage anxiety, and develop self-awareness.
Designed as part of Bamisile’s interdisciplinary studies capstone project at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Maunda is much more than a social media platform. It is a platform in which users can focus on their mental health and well-being through productive journaling, meditation, and affirmations that cater to both individual and group delineation.
‘Vanishing Journal’ is one of the main features of Maunda: which allows users to reflect on their day, express their emotions, and then see it disappearing. Immediately after the last journal entry has been made by the user, it disappears, highlighting the aspect that signifies the idea of moving on from the past and focusing on the present. This aspect accords with Maunda’s vision to assist the users in overcoming their woes and challenges and developing a positive outlook regarding self-identity and self-esteem.
The second most liked feature is ‘Meditation Offerings’, which presents different types of meditations ranging from solo, group, guided, and silent meditaions. Such sessions can be considered as stress relieving, aimed at creating some moments of peace in the rather active life of users, and at the same time, promoting mindfulness. This app also has a ‘Streak System’ to encourage the users to be mindful every day. If someone meditates, journals, or post an uplift, they receive a streak for that day. Uploading their experiences and reading those of others, creates a community of support and encouragement.
It doesn’t end there; Maunda also features a ‘Points System and Leaderboard’, called “the Maunda Score”, to encourage users in their mental health activities. In the form of journaling, meditation, and having a feed like other traditional apps, the application ensures that users monitor their progress and can compare the progress with that of other users thus making this a fun and rewarding process.
But Maunda isn’t just about the features; it is about the purpose behind them. Joseph Bamisile, with the help of Nabil Rezqui, understands the value of a healthy mind and soul on a personal level. VCU’s stand-out basketball player, Bamisile like any other basketball player has not been spared from some of the trials that one is bound to encounter. After switching four different colleges in four years, he experienced extreme loneliness and anxiety, and therefore, had to seek professional help from a therapist. These experiences shaped his views on mental health and inspired him to develop Maunda from that insight.
Hence, the idea of Maunda from Bamisile is considered to stem from the perception of mental health as a basic human right necessary and requiring priority from everyone.
“No matter how good your own personal mental health is, if you feel isolated or you’re not connected to other people, you’re still going to suffer in many ways,” Bamisile explains. This philosophy underpins Maunda, a solution designed to reverse the social isolation that usually leads to mental issues.
Aside from his work with Maunda, Bamisile is also pursuing a master’s degree in Rehabilitation and Mental health Counseling at VCU, increasing his commitment to his field. His academic and professional work shows his passion for enhancing the mental well-being of others through his app and his future profession.
Currently, Maunda has enter its second phase of production, which completely combines more traditional mental health apps with soicl media. As Bamisile and Rezqui continue to develop Maunda, their ultimate goal remains clear: to offer this generation a better method of tackling mental issues, one user at a time. Given the fact of Maunda’s growing number of users and the constant expansion of the number of available features, this social media platform is definitely on its way to being considered one of the most promising health-related platforms in existence.
Published by: Holy Minoza
