AI and Mental Illnesses

21

September

2018

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January 30, 2018.

Approximately 1 in 5 Americans who have a mental illnesses have gone at least one year without treatment. In 2017, Alison Darcy, a clinical psychologist at Stanford University created Woebot, an AI powered chatbot app that uses cognitive-behavioural therapy to help people cope feelings of depression and anxiety.

Erin Brodwin writes about her experience using the app for two weeks. To her surprise, Woebot was helpful especially in the middle of the night when she felt like she did not want to bother her therapist. Woebot was not made to replace therapists, but instead it was created to give people more options and access to different kinds of treatment.

I find this app extremely interesting because if you read the article and look at the screenshot photos of Erin using the app, you can see that the app feels like you’re talking to a friend or playing a game of sorts. The chatbot uses emojis and GIFS, making the cognitive behavioural therapy experience completely different and in the palm of your hand at all times. Woebot remembers your conversations and saves your goals, making the interactions with the chatbot feel more personal. For people who have anxiety and depression, this app could be a lifesaver in many moments where you feel alone and uncomfortable. Woebot intrigues me because I can imagine people using the app on the bus, before a big presentation, and at home.

There are now many startups and companies who are experimenting and constantly improving the digital therapy industry. Other similar AI mental illness applications include: Pacifica, Moodkit, Moodnotes, and Wysa. For now, the chatbots are quite limited to responding to the user’s short descriptions but the next challenge for developers will be to involve natural language processors for text and speech.

What do you think? Would you use the app?

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/therapy-chatbot-depression-app-what-its-like-woebot-2018-1?international=true&r=US&IR=T#the-first-message-appeared-around-6-pm-while-i-was-on-the-bus-i-cupped-a-hand-around-my-phone-and-stole-a-furtive-glance-at-the-gray-bubble-on-the-screen-1

https://www.techemergence.com/chatbots-mental-health-therapy-comparing-5-concurrent-apps-use-cases/

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Technological Construction of Disease

11

September

2018

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Technology is changing the definition of disease.

As medical technology improves, doctors will be able to diagnose patients much quicker than before. People who were never treated in the past will find themselves receiving treatment because of the advancement of diagnostic technology and tools. Bjørn Morten Hofmann argues that over-diagnosis and over-treatment have been identified in a wide range of diseases and we need a more reflective and responsible implementation of health technology.

The expansion of diagnostic technology starts with a technical improvement like increased spatial resolution of a diagnostic ultrasound machine. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography increased the detection of pulmonary embolism by 80% from 1998 to 2006. The technological improvement uncovers “under-detected” health problems. This means that people with mild cases are also treated. In many cases, this technological advancement is good because now we can detect papillary cancers much quicker and treat patients sooner for a better outcome. In some cases, people can be over treated and over diagnosed which may become harmful.

If this is the case, what constitutes as a disease now? If we can measure or manipulate something, it tends to become a disease—for example, hypertension and cholesterolaemia would not be relevant to medicine if we could not measure or manipulate blood pressure or cholesterol. With disease categories widening every year, Hofmann argues that people experience increased disease anxiety, pay more for potentially irrelevant diagnostic tests, and lose trust in the healthcare system because of excessive costs and common over-diagnosis.

Hofmann implores that we be more aware of these technological advances and be mindful not to jump into the constant mindset that “more is better than less”, “new is better than old”, and “advanced is more accurate than simple”. He expresses that we should support the stimulation of innovation and advancement but only when the technology has shown real benefit.

This topic interests me because I have noticed that more and more people are anxious about disease and constantly trying to find ways to “be more healthy” by taking many multivitamins and additional supplements. I do think that many people are “over diagnosed” and “over treated” and I personally feel that people will lose trust in the healthcare industry if over-diagnoses continues. What do you think?

https://www-bmj-com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/content/350/bmj.h705
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/overtreatment-is-taking-a-harmful-toll/

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