What is Mental Health Technology?
Foreword
Greetings from our Telamus Talks team! We are the publishing arm of Telamus, an organization based in Singapore that aims to promote Mental Health Technology developments. In our very first monthly publication, we will be introducing the concept of Mental Health Technology (abbreviated as MHT). We want to give everyone a better understanding of what we aim to achieve at Telamus. After scanning the Mental Health landscape, we learned that there are plenty of innovative projects that already exist. Unfortunately, very little is known by the public about such technology. Many of these projects eventually end up not fulfilling their potential due to a lack of resources and opportunities for development. Through our publications, we hope to share these innovations with the Mental Health community so that as many people as possible can greatly benefit from the sparkling ideas of MHT developers.
What is Mental Health Technology?
What if the cavemen never picked up stones to use as tools?
I was once told that humans worked hard to make their lives easier, and that’s how technology came about. That’s why the cavemen used primitive technology like stones to hunt, build and create new things like fire.
You see, technology has not only made our lives so much easier but has become a crucial part of it as well. While we have advanced from using stones to using smartphones, it doesn’t change the fact that without all these forms of technology, we’d probably be wiped out as a species by now.
Think about it: we might’ve had a much shorter life expectancy if it hadn’t been for the technology that allowed people to study viruses and create vaccinations for them. If we can’t live long enough, how can we ever get our CPF back?
I joke, of course, but technology has kept us alive. It was responsible for helping us reach new possibilities in modern medicine. As a result, we have the luxury of feeling at ease about our health. It seems new cures are discovered every day. However, what most people don’t realise is that health involves more than just your body.
It involves your mind as well.
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health because neglecting either one of them can cause severe problems in our lives. So, if we want to start taking better care of our mental well-being, we need the field of mental health to progress — the same kind of progress we saw with modern medicine. If technology was used to further expand our competence in medical care, why not do the same for our mental healthcare? Sure, that sounds like a great idea. But how do we use technology in the mental health landscape?
That’s where Mental Health Technology comes in.
We think of Mental Health Technology (MHT) as the implementation of technology to aid the delivery of mental health services. They are tools used by mental health service providers and users. Whether it is for treatment methods, communication platforms, or even as simple as automating administrative tasks. The list goes on and on and honestly speaking, that’s the good thing about MHT — there are so many ways you can use it.
Tools for Treatment
If I asked you to think of the term, “Mental Health Technology”, the idea of using technology to treat mental health conditions would’ve popped in your head at some point.
The technology used to assist in mental health treatments fall under MHT. One example is using Virtual Reality (VR) in therapy for people with eating disorders. Although the research is still in its early stages, there were promising results from these studies to show that using VR as a tool in therapy could improve the treatment effectiveness for binge-purging eating disorders.
In spite of that, not all technologies have to be as complex as VR… (Isn’t that right, Mark Zuckerberg?)
Sometimes, therapists will get their clients to keep a journal of their daily experiences. Journaling apps like Thought Diary allows users to take note of daily events and their moods during these experiences. While journaling alone does not directly treat the problem, it is a tool used by therapists to identify the problem areas of their clients’ lives and work on them during sessions.
Before treatments are discovered, however, mental health conditions need to be studied. The contribution of neuroscience and its exploration of the brain is vital to our understanding of mental disorders. With the birth of brain scanning technology, we have been able to learn so much about the brain and figure out the causes of certain disorders.
For instance, we now know which parts of the brain are affected by depression. Using that information, medications targeting those brain regions were used to help patients with depression. Consequently, we’ve gained a more profound understanding of mental health conditions with the help of MHT.
Raising Awareness
It is important to know about mental health conditions. It is a prevalent issue in our society right now. In Singapore, 1 in 7 of the population has a mental health condition. That is why it is good to know what to do if there ever comes a time when you or someone you know needs help. Therefore, what better way to reach out to the masses than with technology?
Seeing how so many people in this era have access to technology, it’s an excellent way to educate them. With online platforms, mental health organisations can teach people and raise awareness about mental health issues. Social media has become increasingly popular in the last decade and visiting websites is this generation’s equivalent of going to the library.
After browsing through Instagram myself, I found that there is no shortage of accounts dedicated to mental health matters. These accounts talk about mental health conditions, provide resources to seek help, and also give tips to help people struggling with their mental health. It may have not crossed your mind, but that is actually an example of MHT. It uses technology as a tool in educating people on mental health matters.
Communication Platforms
One thing never ceases to amaze me — how we can communicate with each other without being in the same room.
Initially, there was a problem when the circuit breaker first began. Therapy sessions were cancelled, people were stuck in their homes, and many of the therapists’ clients started to panic as they felt isolated from their support systems.
It’s tough for some people to go long periods without therapy, especially for those with severe mental health conditions. They may require regular check-ins with their therapists. Unfortunately, the onset of the pandemic prevented that from happening. Alas, the gift of technology allowed people to overcome this barrier.
Therapists began using virtual therapy sessions instead of face-to-face meetings with their clients. Mental health organisations started utilising websites to provide services for people who needed help. Apps started popping up to help people cope with stress. Everything started going digital. During the pandemic, MHT began to shine because people could access mental health services without the need to be physically present.
In June 2020, various organisations came together to launch Mindline.sg to help Singaporeans deal with the stress brought on by the pandemic. The website consolidated information on the different mental health organisations in Singapore and avenues for people to seek professional assistance or handle their issues themselves if they needed to.
The website also had a chatbot, known as “Wysa”, built by an Indian health tech start-up, Touchkin. The chatbot utilises artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with the user. It recommends resources based on the user’s needs and even provides responses to appear empathetic to users in distress. While AI counselling is still experimental technology at this point in time, Wysa effectively utilises AI as a directory for resources rather than as a robot therapist.
AI & The Future of MHT
When people talk about the future of technology, people seem to keep saying that AI and machine learning are going to be at the forefront of it. However, there are just some things a robot can’t replace, like the uniquely human relationship between a therapist and their client. Plenty of AI chatbots have already been developed. But as for the effectiveness of such chatbots in treating mental disorders, there is still much left to be desired.
Nevertheless, there is an exciting future for AI in MHT. We just need to give ourselves time to explore its capabilities. For now, though, these machines are still useful for menial tasks like sorting out paperwork or electronically consolidating clients’ information from a sign-up form, and even coding programmes to allow you to schedule and keep track of appointments with ease. Such use of MHT eliminates the need for manual labour so that service providers can focus on the main part of their work.
The Importance of MHT
Mental health services need to become more efficient.
It’s a chain reaction: When you use MHT to make the sign-up processes smooth, more people are more likely to come forward to get help. When more people begin to use mental health services, MHT is there to reduce the manual workload so that mental health professionals can focus on providing help. This leads to better quality service, meaning that more people will be willing to approach these organisations for help and MHT is the catalyst of it all. So simple.
We must begin taking mental health seriously. Just last year, Singapore lost 452 precious lives to suicide.
Every day, people out there are struggling to cope with the stresses of life. Regardless of how big or small the issue is, we must realise that we are not indestructible. Humans are social creatures and need to rely on one another for support.
So, if MHT can encourage people to start seeking help, I’d say that’s the greatest thing that MHT could ever accomplish.
What role does Telamus play in all of this?
The world is not short of mental health innovators. Every day, there is someone out there with a bright idea that they have for a new type of MHT that could potentially revolutionise the field. Students, Psychologists, Programmers, Mental Healthcare Providers, Researchers, and so many others may have ideas for MHT innovations and start-ups. But many of them lack the expertise and resources to develop it.
That’s where Telamus comes in. We chose to enter this industry because we saw a gap in the market: there were all these brilliant ideas from MHT innovators, but they either didn’t have the technical or financial background to create them. It pains us to see all this talent go to waste. They can make a massive impact in the field if only they have the right people to assist them.
Our plan for Telamus is to grow these projects. When we come across an innovator with an idea, we aim to meet their needs. It could be advice on their idea, it could be a person with a particular set of skills to work on their project, or it could be an eager investor looking to fund an MHT start-up. By getting investors and tech professionals working with these MHT innovators, it is more likely that these projects will come to fruition.
We will build bridges between innovators and their potential partners. At Telamus, we want to make sure that these passionate individuals get their innovations out into the field for people to use.
To find out more, visit our website today!
