Maria Girich: “Growth of esoteric services market is driven by economic instability and unsettled sector”

Maria Girich: “Growth of esoteric services market is driven by economic instability and unsettled sector”
Maria Girich

Nezavisimaya gazeta published a comment by Maria Girich, Researcher, International Best Practices Analysis Department at the Gaidar Institute, dedicated to growing popularity of esoteric services and psychological aid in Russia.

According to a survey by the Public Opinion Foundation, 14% of respondents have consulted psychics, sorcerers and fortune-tellers, and a study by the Modifiers communications agency showed that the market for esoteric services in Russia has reached Rb 2 trillion having exceeded psychological services by 20 times.

“It can be noted that growth in esoteric and psychologist services markets has been driven by many factors. Firstly, these are economic crises, financial instability, pandemics and other events that can induce negative effects on mental health (depression, increased anxiety), especially for the younger generation. According to the OECD, after COVID-19, young people in a number of countries reported symptoms of depression or anxiety 30–80% more often than adults.

During the 2008 economic crisis, there was a 1.5-fold rise in global demand for mental health services (depression, anxiety and substance use disorders).

Social groups such as young people (especially those aged 18–24), the elderly and low-income earners are often the most vulnerable to mental distress, i.e. those most affected by economic crises.

As we can see, the cost of the esoteric services market is 20 times more than services of psychologists. Perhaps this is due to the fact that psychologist services constitute professional skills that require appropriate education. In contrast, esoterism is an unregulated sector. For example, it is not clear which types of services could be included here. Moreover, such services do not require education,” said Maria Girich.

Tuesday, 20.05.2025