According to Mental Health America (2019), 12.63% of children between the ages of twelve and seventeen experienced at least one major depressive episode in the US during 2018. Twenge et. al (2017) searched for major trends that could be the cause of these astonishing rates. They found that 48% of the adolescents who spent more than 5 hours a day on their phone were prone to having suicidal thoughts. From their peers who kept their selves busy with their phone for just one hour per day, 28% had once thought of suicide. Treatments for mental health problems vary, but the stigma and neglect prevents people from speaking up (Who.int, 2001). Other reasons why mental health diseases remain untreated are limited coverage of insurance, lack of connection between health care systems and the scarcity of mental health care providers (Bakker et. al, 2016).
The digitalization in the health care industry did not leave the mental health segment untouched. Several apps have been developed to improve mental health. Headspace, for example, is my favorite meditation app, but the app does not leave much room for user input. The journaling app Stigma applies word cloud technology to look for frequently recurring words and matches them with emotions. Other apps provide Cognitive Behavioral Training (CBT) and help people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD) or addictions (Shelton, n.d.). The real disruption seems to be found in the screening, diagnosing and treating mental illnesses with Artificial Intelligence. Ginger is a chat app that uses an algorithm to analyze the messages to give recommendations and is used in the workplace (Marr, 2019). Quartet Health can be used by the general practitioner to screen the medical history of a patient to find behavioral patterns that could predict or discover an undiagnosed mental health illness. The more these apps are used, the more data on behavioral patterns they can collect to establish healthcare preventing illnesses.
Bakker et. al (2016) found that the mental health apps that can be downloaded by smartphone users are rarely proven to be effective. I also doubt that picking up your phone every five minutes to provide a dozen apps the metrics they need to analyze your mental state would make you feel balanced. On the other hand, I believe the use of Artificial Intelligence in the screening, diagnosing and preventing of mental health illnesses could disrupt the way the care has been offered. I think the actual treatment, however, should not be based exclusively on apps, because real connections are made with real humans, not with an app. What are your thoughts?
References:
Bakker, D., Kazantzis, N., Rickwood, D. and Rickard, N. (2016). Mental Health Smartphone Apps: Review and Evidence-Based Recommendations for Future Developments. JMIR Mental Health, [online] 3(1), p.e7. Available at: https://mental.jmir.org/2016/1/e7/?utm_content=bufferfb966&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Marr, B. (2019). The Incredible Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Now Used In Mental Health. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/05/03/the-incredible-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-now-used-in-mental-health/#5428a74dd02e [Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
Mental Health America (2019). The state of mental health in America. [online] Mental Health America, p.17. Available at: https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/2019%20MH%20in%20America%20Final.pdf.
Shelton, J. (n.d.). Top 25 Mental Health Apps for 2018: An Alternative to Therapy?. [online] Psycom.net – Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1986. Available at: https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps [Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
Twenge, J., Joiner, T., Rogers, M. and Martin, G. (2017). Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time. Clinical Psychological Science, [online] 6(1), pp.3-17. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2167702617723376
Who.int. (2001). World Health Report. [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/
