This past year has not been what many would consider easy. In fact, with the current pandemic many have struggled through the isolation from distancing, financial stress, and the overall pandemic stress. The year 2020 brought to light the overall importance of mental health. Research has shown around forty million adults suffer from anxiety disorders in the United States. In Canada, at least 1 in 5 people suffer from a mental illness. These statistics show that while we are continuing to take care of the increase in mental illness cases, we also need to find more ways to fix them. Luckily, technology has been able to move rapidly allowing it to help in the area of mental health. Let me show you how:
Artificial Intelligence:
Because of how subjective programming is, it is difficult to measure how quantifiable mental health is. However, progress in this area has been made. Vanderbilt University in Nashville attempted to collect data from more than 5000 patients who had considered harming themselves. Based on this, a machine could then tell if they would try to harm themselves within the next week (84% accuracy rate) or two years (80% accuracy rate). While AI is still developing in its early stages in mental health reserach, it could help save many and find more efficient solutions.
Smartphone Apps:
Did you know an estimated 5 000 000 000 people own a smartphone? This can be useful to mental health because it can give an idea of how a person is doing mentally through the use of digital journaling or mental health apps such as Calm. This is not the same as going to see a therapist; however, it works as something complementary to professional treatment. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America tracks all the mental health apps in a database to review and certify them based on their ease of use, effectiveness, personalization, interactive feedback, and evidence. If you are wondering which apps the association recommends, they are called Happify, iSleep Easy, Super Better, or Youper AI.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS):
This machine can be used to change the brain’s electromagnetic environment. A study showed that 47% of people who were clinically depressed responded to this machine and 30% were no longer defined as clinically depressed. This machine helps regulate mood and increases the brains’ activity.
As someone who is a huge advocate for mental health, I believe that it should be discussed as many people suffer from it unknowingly. I believe that mental health is something everyone can work on. As technology continues to improve, I encourage you to think of more ways to improve the understanding of mental health!
References:
