Jun 3, 2016

My 2026- Be Mentally Fit with the Boostbit

My 2026 - Critically Designing the Future of Mental Health Technology

New technologies geared toward mental health have arisen in the last decade since the advent of smartphone and application based technology. Health is already a social trend, so by 2026 it is feasible to have a Fitbit like app for mental health. It would be called Boostbit. It is supposed to provide a boost in overall well-being in terms of mental health by allowing the user to track their dietary and alcoholic consumption, exercise habits, sleep patterns, medications taken, etc. These factors then will digitally calculate the person’s mental health status and provide recommendations for achieving optimal mental health. The Boostbit app pulls in information from any Fitbit or fitness device attached to the smartphone and uses that in calculating a person’s mental health status. Therefore, no external gadget must be worn in order to get the benefits of the Boostbit application. The Boostbit application will be accompanied by the ability to go on the Boostbit website and check one’s mental health status there. By this point in time hopefully mental health will be much more destigmatized than it is now. The Boostbit website and app could function to connect people with mental illnesses to one another as support networks. There could be support groups for people with depression, bipolar, ADHD, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, and other mental illnesses. These groups are proven to enhance wellbeing by facilitating communication between people who share similar struggles and can boost each other up with encouragement to enhance their mental health.

This app would have the benefit of being free for current users of Fitbit or fitness trackers. It would synchronize the information from the Fitbit or fitness tracker interface and use it to compile its own data on a user’s mental health.

An example of the Fitbit interface that tracks steps, heart rate, exercise, sleep, caloric intake, weight loss goals, and water consumption. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

The Boostbit interface would have a similar look, however it would have an easy mechanism for tracking alcoholic consumption and drug use to see how those impact mental health and overall well-being.

A look at the Intellidrink application, which the Boostbit would similarly integrate to track alcoholic consumption over time. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

The Boostbit app would synthesize existing technology from such apps as Intellidrink where it will allow users to track their alcoholic consumption over time including giving them a working knowledge of their blood alcohol level. This can hopefully help people to monitor their drinking so that they can not only avoid excessive caloric intake but also spare the harmful effects of alcoholism.

Boostbit would adopt the location tracking technology of Tinder so that it could show users their proximity to one another. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

By allowing users to know their proximity to one another it can encourage users to meet up and find alternative ways to have fun that are safe and do not involve drug use. Users can convene at an authentic restaurant together. Alternatively, they could watch a film festival feature together or explore some modern art or architecture together. Integrating the location based technology of such apps as Tinder allows Boostbit to connect users as its own form of a social network. This is where people using the application have the option to meet up with other users who come from similar mental health backgrounds and support one another.

Boostbit would integrate the technology of the Drugs.com app by allowing users to input their medications, which would help further diagnose the mental health state of the user. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Boostbit would allow users to expand the limited options of fitness monitors by allowing users to also easily input their medication and see how that has affected their mood over time. Users can track their mood using the application.

Boostbit users can easily select from the Mood Tracker integrated technological interface how they feel on sliding scales of emotion. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

The users individual input through the integration of Mood Tracker app’s sliding scale system would allow users within the Boostbit app to similarly slide the scale to indicate their self-perception of their mood and track that over time with relation to their mental health status as diagnosed by the app.

The Boostbit app’s aim is to destigmatize mental health by integrating it into the technological fabric of our lives. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Boostbit would aim to destigmatize feared mental illnesses especially such ones as schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder, and help users to support rather than judge one another for their mental health status.

Boostbit would connect the vulnerable and minoritized communities that are often the ones more biologically or environmentally predisposed to certain mental illnesses. For example there is a higher incidence for mental illnesses in the LGBTQ population as compared to the baseline population level. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Boostbit could in a way almost function as a dating app, as it has the potential to connect people to one another. While Grindr Xtra is by no means a mere dating app, if the hookup component of the app is discarded then there is potential for some pretty impressive networking using the type of location monitoring and image sending functions taken from the Grindr Xtra app.

Boostbit would integrate the technological capability to send and receive photos from others much like that used by the Grindr Xtra application. Boostbit would also allow users to pinpoint their locations for one another, an additional feature integrated from Grindr Xtra. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

While the purpose of the Boostbit app is not necessarily to promote meeting up for hooking up, it serves to allow users to see pictures of others and know their relative proximity to one another so that they can make an informed decision about if they want to meet up with someone.

Boostbit would have user profiles as such showing a user’s profile picture, and their mental health status along with their fitness information. It would integrate the existing technology of the Fitbit interface. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

Boostbit has the potential to create a more widespread acceptance for the need we all have as humans to self-monitor our mental health so as to make the most informed decisions regarding lifestyle choices.