Tech COVID-19

ASX mental health stocks are getting a boost from a federal budget promise of more spending.

The ASX mental health stocks set to benefit from increased government spending

Tech

October 9, 2020 | Nick Sundich

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• Mental health stocks set to benefit from increased mental health awareness
• This week’s budget included measures to help patients and the sector
• Cogstate (ASX:CGS) is 2020’s biggest winner so far up over 50 per cent

As the world becomes increasingly aware about mental health, the number of ASX mental health-linked stocks has grown.

The government estimates that more than a quarter of Australians aged between 16 and 85 (4.2 million people) will experience an anxiety condition in their lifetime.

In this week’s budget, the government spent an unprecedented $5.7bn on mental health initiatives and tomorrow, October 10, will be a further reminder being World Mental Health Day.

A number of ASX stocks are looking to play their part in helping address the crisis. There are two categories, firstly pure-play stocks with software that specifically monitors mental health.

The other is telehealth stocks that will benefit from budget initiatives aimed at boosting remote consultations.

Pure-play mental health stocks

A handful of small caps have targeted solutions to monitor mental health.

Two stocks, Cogstate (ASX:CGS) and Total Brain (ASX:TTB), offer self-assessment tools for brain health that can identify common medical conditions.

Both stocks have partnerships with major firms for their technology.

Cogstate has nabbed a marketing deal with Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai,