The notion surrounding mental health treatment has long been considered a taboo subject and continues to remain prone to criticism today as well. The criticism has decreased following increasing awareness regarding mental health and with enhanced research into psychological topics. Students are also being given education via seminars and psychology classes. In such an era, we tend to utilize technology for all sorts of purposes from the most ginormous ones to the most mundane ones.

Technology for All

The era has massively been digitalized from huge amounts of data stored in invisible (literally invisible) clouds to researching for all sorts of information online to communicating across the world and much more. The whole purpose of technology has been to benefit mankind in one way or another and fortunately, some empathic humans continue to bring about innovations which can assist in providing remedies to the existing human problems. We are teaching students the importance of remaining updated with technological innovations. So it only seems wise to make use of technology in battling mental health care issues as well, right? How about teaching our students that as well?

Is Mental Health worth the attention?

Like our physical health problems, our mental health issues are also vast and not to be overlooked. If we suffer from a road accident, we are immediately offered sympathy and people tend to understand our situation. But that is not applicable in mental health because there is no palpable proof to exhibit how our mental health issue is negatively impacting our health and output, for majority deem it sluggishness or being overly dramatic. Mental health issues affect hundreds of millions of people around the globe; according to the World Health Organization, some 300 million suffer from depression, and another 260 million grapple with anxiety disorder and about three out of every 100 people will experience an episode of psychosis breakdown in their lifetime. Alarming right?

How we can utilize technology to assist with Mental Health Care?

Here we have outlined a few technology-based methods which have been and which can be further employed in assisting with mental health care issues:

Mobile Apps

This is a time where you can find an app for literally anything. People are using fitness apps to track their exercise and diet routines and for social networking and for streaming music and much more. Now we are bestowed with mobile apps catering to mental health problems as well. Some daily meditation apps are targeted at users with specific conditions, such as anxiety, schizophrenia, or depression, and are designed to assuage and manage symptoms, track moods and thoughts, or help individuals stick with treatments. Others are aimed at improving memory, copying, and thinking skills, or managing stress through meditation or mindfulness.

Therapy One-on-One online and via text/calls

Organizations are now offering counselors who you can retain at low prices and seek therapy from via text or video call as well. This way, you can avail remote based counseling as per their convenience. This is a very good option for those who cannot find therapists in their vicinity or have hectic routines or trouble commuting; very good option for students who are not able to openly express their issues. Maybe the nursing essay writers in your class may be dealing a lot of mental stress which may be starting to affect their grades later on? Such students can definitely make use of such services.

Smart Softwares and Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics refers to extracting information from a set of data through various statistical methods. Smart software can work with predictive analytics to deduce possible symptoms of any mental health condition and predict outcomes accordingly. This is useful for students who may be under a lot of stress but are not aware of the impact that the stress might be having on their mental health. Counselors in schools and institutions can consequently work upon helping students deal with stress as per the results from the students’ data.

Virtual Reality

While patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are being treated with medication, exercise and therapy, doctors have also added Virtual Reality to treat them with what they call ‘Exposure Therapy’, which aims to desensitize patients by making them relive the traumatic moments. This helps patients get habituated to the memories so they no longer trigger flashbacks and anxiety.