Mental health care has a reputation of being overlooked and generally neglected in countries around the world. Statistics show that there is a significant lag in the treatment of mental health issues globally with signs pointing to the need for multimillion-dollar rehabilitation across-the-board for mental care facilities to become considerably more effective. According to data, mental health patients in the poorest countries are the ones who suffer the most from this neglect, where only 1 in 10 will be able to receive treatment.
In recent years, mental health issues have been receiving more recognition from different health communities, modern-day researchers have even begun proposing that the worldwide movement to improve mental health must also include cost-effective and convenient to use interventions, including the type of assistance that can be offered by modern-day technological solutions. In fact, advancements in technology have already made it possible for the gadgets that have already proliferated the market to be used for monitoring, diagnostic, and therapeutic purposes. Even low-end technology has already shown potential, like how voice calls and SMS messaging may help assess mental health status or stimulate significant behavioral changes. High spec gadgets like tablets and smart phones make use of multimedia applications over a multilayer platform to generate more specific data and smarter interventions.
One such example is the Mobilyze! System that uses over 35 smartphone sensor values that are personalized for each user and is used to predict the user's psychological status so that it can deliver calculated therapeutic interventions for patients with unipolar depression. Innovators believe that it is with technological advancements such as this that the global health community will be able to revolutionize the way mental illnesses are evaluated, monitored, and treated, which may prove to be useful to even the lowest economy countries where health workforces for mental illnesses barely exist.
