Mental Health Apps
I’m sure you are well aware that, thanks to the collective pandemic experience that presented us with multiple stressors, depression and anxiety levels have risen. Loneliness, infection fears, personal exposure to death and financial worries have promoted the surge. Currently 20% of adults are experiencing mental health issues in the US. The World Health Organization stated that the virus triggered a 25% worldwide increase in these issues. The 2022 State of Mental Health in America report confirmed this ongoing trend. One obstacle to improving these movements is a gap in care for those who most dearly need services. For much of the pandemic, aids for mental, neurological and substance use issues were the most disrupted among all essential health services. An effort to improve access to mental health support is seen in a few new US policies. For instance, the FCC adopted rules to designate #988 as a nationwide three-digit call number for Americans in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and crisis counselors. The Surgeon General stated that real, wide-spread psychiatric issues are reoccurring troubles seen in children, adolescents and young adults. As a result, our country is trying to increase mental health education and backing in the school systems.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the clinical development of a host of self-help apps. Possibly it is due to disruptions in mental health services, economic or convenience factors, but our populace is adopting this form of care. Drawbacks of using apps are that some software is unregulated prior to hitting the market, which may render them ineffective or even risky. If a person is already in therapy, the use of undiscussed external programs can muddy the waters of the person’s clinical treatment plan, which would be a problem. In psychotherapy a good deal of work is done outside the session. In my experience, clients have trouble enough completing outside tasks (even with therapeutic support). There may be less resolve towards homework success left to their own devices – pun intended.
Yet these products provide new opportunities for psychologists to make use of training, skills and experience to assist in guiding product development. If a person was already engaged in treatment, these self-help products could enhance a person’s sense of social support to enhance outcomes. Clients could use therapeutic platforms to support structured homework, to practice newly earned skills and stay motivated between sessions. Specific software could be applied to work with co-occurring symptoms, such as insomnia. Or used to help to track moods for treatment planning purposes. Another important benefit is that studies show these sites spur curiosity to seek a real therapist and can lead more folks to an improved source of support.
Seriously … my concern is the question of true healing potential in the use of automated devices. While people carry within them their own internal healing mechanism, it cannot be stated strongly enough that this true tonic is activated by the natural attachment process within a human relationship.