By the time you read this, 150 people that were just born will suffer from a mental illness

At Lattnem, we are trying to solve this

What if I told you that by the time you finish this 6-minute article, 150 people that were born during your read will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime?

Unfortunately, this is true. Today 1 in 10 people around suffer from mental illness, topping out at over 792 million people worldwide. Mental illness does not have mercy on anyone — future CEOs, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers are all equally affected. Oftentimes, these mental illnesses push people down the wrong path, to suicide, drugs, addiction and reckless and impulsive consequential behaviours. Now, imagine a world where all 250 babies born per minute had the opportunity to live life to their full potential, not bound or limited by mental illness.

This is what Lattnem aims to do.

At Lattnem, we are working to provide a solution to help track, treat, and prevent mental illnesses of all kinds using an AI interface that can free up your mind and take you out of your shackles.

Our vision is to create a world where mental illness is not a problem, where everyone can live to their full potential with no obstacle. Today, our mission is to create an affordable, widespread cure to mental disorders by leveraging artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, biochemistry and nanotechnology, starting with addiction.

The Science of Addiction

Addiction completely rewires your brain and changes the way it functions and its physiological shape as well. In other words, it hijacks your brain. Addiction takes many different forms, manifesting itself through drugs, drinking, gambling, sex, electronics — anything that your brain tells that it constantly needs. How does that happen?

A bit more insight on how the brain works during addiction

The brain has a reward circuit that is activated when you take part in pleasurable activities such as eating food, receiving monetary awards, having sexual encounters, and taking drugs, among others. When you take part in those activities, a part of your brain called the nucleus accumbens releases bouts of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Every time a rush of dopamine is released, your hippocampus remembers that feeling. However, when you take drugs, for example, a huge rush of dopamine is released that is not naturally replicable. Your hippocampus wants to recreate that dopaminergic rush, which is what drives you to constantly crave that drug.

While addiction can manifest itself in many different ways, all addicts experience some or all of the following symptoms:

• The continued use of said substance despite the possible, physiological, social, and legal consequences.
• The constant crave for that substance — addicts tend to want that at multiple points during the day
• Withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop or do not have access to it

Recovery

Today, the road to addiction recovery is a long and tedious process marked with multiple gains, but also several relapses and setbacks. Just ask any addict — it’s not an easy road to take.

Patients recovering from addiction often experience withdrawal, a painful, full body experience which is what causes addicts to relapse. This happens when they try and quit cold turkey or because they do not have access to said substance. This causes many changes in the person; they begin to experience bouts of depression, feel physically ill, and dispirited. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 40 to 60 percent of people recovering from addiction will relapse at some point and turn back to the addictive substance. Even after completing rehab, people return to the environment where they were addicted to a substance, which evokes urges and compulsive behaviors which often lead them to relapse despite knowing of the physical, social and legal consequences. Another reason for relapse are triggers. For example, people recovering from alcohol addiction might go to the bar or to a party, which will trigger urges and pull them down into a relapse.

While there are many ways to treat addiction, the most common way to treat it is through the usage of drugs, or more formally, medication. Whether the person is going through opioid, tobacco, or alcohol addiction, several drugs have been approved and subscribed to help patients recover from addiction. But, think about this… does treating someone with a drug addiction by giving them more drugs sound right to you?

Drugs on drugs? Not always the best solution

Obviously, there has to be a better solution than drugs.

At Lattnem, we’re focused on helping patients recover risk-free and stress-free. Our first product, MOSES, will use a format similar to all of our future products. Here’s a quick peek at our process and how MOSES is integrated into it!

1. A wearable for all

We are designing and developing a non-invasive wearable custom-fit to your head that will target the hippocampus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens, all areas that are strongly affected by addiction. Attached to the durable graphene wearable are nanosensors which have the capability to detect and send personalized electric impulses to the brain to stop any addictive impulsive urges in its tracks.

2. Advanced AI training

PET Scans, EEGs, ECOGs, and other tests are performed to gather personal data about the patient’s brain. This will allow the AI system to reinforce itself through guided trial and error which will utilize machine learning (ML) to help the AI system detect it. When the AI system recognizes symptoms, it can administer proper electrical impulses without any feeling that will regulate the patient’s hormones and return them to a normal, neutral state. This will protect addicts from relapsing and save them from the lengthy road of recovery.

3. Real-time assurance

MOSES is not just a wearable that just administers electrical impulses, it’s also connected wirelessly to a free app that can easily track and display the patient’s mental state, as well as time of symptoms, all in real time. This will ultimately give them peace of mind wherever they are and in whatever they do.

An app for real-time assurance and tracking

Our Values

We didn’t start Lattnem because we had to, we did this because we wanted to. We believe that our success will not only come from the technology we produce, but also in the values we take pride in:

Transparency

• This means being completely open and honest in whatever we do. This will help accelerate progress and is healthy for the company as a whole.

Growth

• Personal growth is what makes the company grow. At Lattnem, we pride ourselves in knowledge growth and experience, as well as everything positive in our lives.

Freedom

• We are people who have a sense of freedom in their lives. We are doing things not because we have to, but because we want to make an impact in the world.

Inspiration

• Being inspired makes people work on a problem that is hard to take, and shapes them to be the person they are today. What drives you?

Why does this matter to me?

We’ve all known someone in our lives that has struggled with mental health issues, whether it be a family member or school friend suffering from depression, addiction, or anxiety. Every time they experience one of their episodes, I’ve thought to myself countless times: what can I do to help them? This is why I created Lattnem to help those who are struggling in hopes that they can live a life free of their burdens and achieve their full potential. In addition, there is a lot of stigma surrounding mental health today, that people dealing with those issues are generally looked down upon. I hope that Lattnem can pave a way to not only help those dealing with problems to be proud and embrace themselves but to also end negative stigma in today’s society as well.

Too Long, didn’t read?

Here is a quick summary of what I talked about!

• 1 in 10 people in the world suffer from a mental illness.
• At Lattnem, our vision is to create a world where people can live to their full potential and not be burdened by their illness.
• MOSES is a wearable for all that can tackle addiction by monitoring hormone and neurotransmitter levels in your brain by sending electrical impulses when it detects impulsive and addictive urges
• Check out more at lattnem.com

Thanks for reading,

Stay tuned for future articles!