Technology and the Future of Mental Health Treatment

How is technology used for mental health treatment?

Technology has opened a new frontier in mental health care and data collection. Mobile devices like cell phones, smartphones, and tablets are giving the public, health care providers, and researchers new ways to access help, monitor progress, and increase understanding of mental well-being.New technology can also be packaged into an extremely sophisticated app for smartphones or tablets. Such apps might use the device’s built-in sensors to collect information on a user’s typical behavior patterns. Then, if the app detects a change in behavior, it can signal that help is needed before a crisis occurs.

Some apps are stand-alone programs designed to improve memory or thinking skills. Other apps help people connect to a peer counselor or a health care professional.Before focusing on the state of the science and where it may lead, it’s important to look at the advantages and disadvantages of expanding mental health treatment and research into a mobile world.

What are the pros and cons of mental health apps?

Mental health apps and other technology have a lot of potential, both for people seeking mental health care and mental health professionals providing such services. Some advantages of mobile care technology include the following.

• Convenience: Allows treatment to take place anytime and anywhere, such as at home in the middle of the night or on a bus on the way to work, making it ideal for people who have trouble getting to in-person appointments
• Anonymity: Lets people receive treatment anonymously and privately from the comfort of their homes
• Lower cost: Makes care more affordable through apps that are free or cheaper than traditional in-person care
• Greater outreach: Helps mental health professionals offer treatment to people in remote areas or to large numbers of people in times of sudden need, like after a natural disaster or traumatic event
• Interest: Encourages people to continue therapy by making care more appealing and accessible than traditional in-person treatment
• Data collection: Collects information, such as location, movement, phone use, and other data

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Who creates mental health apps?

Developing mental health apps and other technology requires a partnership between mental health professionals and software engineers. Researchers have found that interventions are most effective when people like them, are engaged in them, and want to continue using them. Behavioral health apps work best when they combine engineers’ skills for making an app easy to use and entertaining with providers’ skills for providing effective treatment options. Researchers and engineers are developing and testing apps that do everything from manage\medications to teach coping skills to predict when someone may need emotional help.

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Who evaluates mental health apps?

There are no review boards, checklists, or widely accepted rules for evaluating or choosing a mental health app or other technology. Most apps do not have peer-reviewed research to support their claims, and it is unlikely that every mental health app will go through a randomized clinical research trial to test its effectiveness. One reason is that testing is a slow process, and technology evolves quickly. By the time an app has been put through rigorous scientific testing, the original technology may be outdated.

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