Digital Technology In Mental Health
The question “How are you feeling?” is one of the more common inquiries of a person’s life. Yet, mood has been difficult to quantify and understand through technology due to the many factors that go into a person’s mood and the uniqueness of mood constructs among individuals. However, as cognitive technology and artificial intelligence continue to advance, humans may be able to understand mood and mental health in a new way – through the power of our smartphones. From machine learning to enhanced mobile capabilities, there is more opportunity to put ideas to the test with digital technology than ever before.
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With the announcement of Apple’s ResearchKit in March 2015, developers and health care professionals have been working to develop applications that leverage the functionality of the smartphone to aid in research – whether that’s using sensors, facial recognition, accelerometer or GPS tracking. In addition to Apple’s ResearchKit and functionality, IBM Watson and the cognitive technology it offers have created opportunities to put the evolving phenomenon of machine learning to the test in initiatives to advance the level of cognition in the technology we use in our day-to-day lives.
For those in the mental health industry, this is an important innovation. Today, approximately 1 out of every 5 adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness, equating to 43.8 million people. Of that number, it’s known that millennials – specifically those aged 18-25 – have the highest prevalence of experiencing a depressive episode. From depression to anxiety to other mood disorders, NAMI estimates that serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year. The need for innovation exists, and the time is now.
Beyond mental illness and mood disorders, mood is an important factor of life for all of society. Human beings strive for wellness of body and mind – we want to feel good, be happy and live well.
What’s In Play?
Responding to industry prompts and opportunities to innovate in the mental health space, many startups or initiatives have emerged to bring the technology of today to one of our society’s most pressing issues.
- Eliza: Gathering the attention of tech lovers this spring, the IBM Watson-powered Android application analyzes speech to determine a person’s mental state. Users simply tell Eliza how they’re feeling, and the technology analyzes sentiments to aggregate data and offer insights to users.
- Saker: Using Apple’s ResearchKit functionality, this app tracks a person’s gait to test how scared or apprehensive a user is feeling.
- Autism & Beyond: Also using Apple ResearchKit, this Duke University initiative uses facial recognition technology to help in early-stage autism screening.
- Quartet: A Google Ventures-backed company, Quartet has developed a collaborative behavioral health platform that aggregates data and analyzes trends between physical health and behavioral health, linking patients with a health care provider, evidence-based approaches and individualized plans.
In addition to the applications already in the works, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched the Mood Challenge, calling on proposals for innovative ideas to research mood. The challenge focuses on Apple’s ResearchKit functionality to bring solutions to the mental health industry and to test how mood impacts wellness. Beyond this challenge, mental health has been an area of interest for many investment groups, with recent high-dollar investments in mental health including startup Lantern, raising $17M in a series B this year, Talkspace raising 9.5M in 2015, and Quartet raising $40M in a series B funding round this year. It is apparent that the technological framework exists to continue inventing more robust mental health apps for users, while financial interest remains strong.
For all clinicians, statisticians, developers and mental health innovators, now is the time to think big and test ideas to improve mental health and well-being. Through innovations in smartphone technology and capabilities of cognitive learning in technology, we can learn more about mood both societally and clinically – a goal that can help millions of people every year through technology we hold in our hands every day.
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