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Tag: depression
03/10/2023

‘Simple but Effective’: Colombia Turns to Algorithms to Bolster Mental Health Services

Article Excerpt: At the age of 70, Carmen Suárez* is finally coming to terms with an event that happened five decades ago. It was a trauma that changed the course of her life and left her with depression. “I used to cry uncontrollably,” she says. “I was told to seek help, but I had neither the time nor the money. I realise now that I was stuck reliving the incident.” Over the course of a year, the Diada project (detection and integrated care for depression and alcohol use), an innovative project aimed at identifying people with or at risk of developing a mental health or alcohol use disorder, helped her recover.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2jrfnkdt

Article Source: The Guardian

Posted in: Epidemiology // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
02/28/2023

MHT Delivers New Technology for Measuring and Improving Mental Wellness

Article Excerpt: Mental Health Technologies (MHT) offers a rapidly growing cloud-based platform primary care physicians and mental health professionals use to screen and test for mental health disorders, including depression and substance abuse. MHT helps providers identify areas where their patients are struggling and refers them to the proper behavioral healthcare professional…SmarTest is a tool that uses intelligence and historical data to define when-and how-a patient should be tested for various mental health conditions. It can base its decisions on patient information, such as age, gender, or other demographics.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/6ruxh22t

Article Source: Accesswire

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
02/10/2023

CBT Smartphone App Aims to Address Depression in Teens

Article Excerpt: Researchers recently created a brand new CBT smartphone app that will provide young people with multiple ways to address and handle their mental health problems. A study group will now be assembled to assess the effectiveness of the smartphone application in relation to its ability to combat depression. Adolescents are struggling with depression at higher rates today than ever before. Researchers believe that the stress of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting peer isolation and disruption to school life is to blame. Other factors cited include an ever-growing presence on social media and pressure to conform to impossible celebrity standards. Thus, any way in which technology can help depressed teens minimize symptoms is much-needed. Through the use of interactive and self-guided therapy, the ClearlyMe app will use the power of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, on teenagers from all over the country. The technology contains 37 “short lessons” that will touch upon the basics of CBT and the power it has to change thinking and alter core beliefs in those who use it.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/326u5s8v

Article Source: Legal Reader

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
01/10/2023

Challenges in Recruiting University Students for Web-Based Indicated Prevention of Depression and Anxiety: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial (ICare Prevent)

Bolinski F, Kleiboer A, Neijenhuijs K, Karyotaki E, Wiers R, de Koning L, Jacobi C, Zarski A, Weisel K, Cuijpers P, Riper H. Challenges in Recruiting University Students for Web-Based Indicated Prevention of Depression and Anxiety: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial (ICare Prevent). J Med Internet Res 2022;24(12):e40892. DOI: 10.2196/40892

This study described recruitment challenges for a transdiagnostic, web-based prevention program and presented initial analysis on the intervention’s effectiveness on depression and anxiety symptoms. The study was a 3-arm randomized controlled trial with students (at least 16 years old) with subclinical symptoms of depression and anxiety to compare individually guided and automatically guided versions of ICare Prevent versus care as usual. ICare Prevent is a web-based and mobile-supported intervention for prevention of depression and anxiety. ICare Prevent is a 7-session web-based program (45-60 minutes each) and participants were instructed to complete 1-2 sessions weekly. ICare Prevent also provides elective modules and diaries that target factors common to mood and anxiety problems (i.e., sleep, alcohol use, positive activities). The individually guided version provided structured and personalized feedback on exercises and the automatically guided version provided standard and computerized feedback after each session. The study’s original recruitment goal was 252 student participants. Various strategies of recruitment were used, including social media campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, printed advertising at universities, paid participant platform, and other collaborations. Direct recruitment using students’ email addresses via the student administration was the most effective strategy. Despite these strategies, data was available for only 35 participants (individually guided: n=14, automatically guided: n=8, care as usual: n=13). Participants provided self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Log data from the intervention platform showed low usage, with an average of 3 out of 7 sessions completed. Results did not show sufficient evidence of intervention effects on depression and anxiety over time in any intervention arm. Overall, recruitment for this population was challenging and more research is needed to identify factors to better engage college students in research studies.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
12/12/2022

Researchers to Develop Smartwatch Device to Address Youth Mental Health Crisis

Article Excerpt: With the goal of addressing a growing mental health crisis among teenagers, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) partnered with Analog Devices, Inc (ADI) to develop a wearable smartwatch device to serve as an early detector of suicidality or depression. According to federal data, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among youth aged 10 to 17. The data also shows that youth suicide rates in the US increased from 6.8 per 100,000 in 2007 to 10.7 per 100,000 in 2018, according to the press release. On top of this, thoughts related to suicide are common, with 18.8 percent of high school students in the US having reported suicide consideration. This high demand for mental healthcare among the youth often exceeds the number of mental health beds available, forcing patients to wait in the emergency department for days.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/ac6jjft5

Article Source: mHealth Intelligence

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
12/09/2022

As Student Mental Health Needs Soar, Schools Turn to Telehealth

Article Excerpt: In the southwestern suburbs of Denver, the Cherry Creek school system has been tackling the mental health crisis gripping students here, as in the rest of the country. Social workers and psychologists are based in schools to help. But this month, the district debuted a new option: telehealth therapy for children.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2js2c9pt

Article Source: The Washington Post

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
10/10/2022

Therapist-guided internet-based psychodynamic therapy versus cognitive behavioural therapy for adolescent depression in Sweden: a randomised, clinical, non-inferiority trial

Mechler J, Lindqvist K, Carlbring P, Topooco N, Falkenström F, Lilliengren P, Andersson G, Johansson R, Midgley N, Edbrooke-Childs J, Dahl H-S J, Sandell R, Thorén A, Ulberg R, Bergsten KL, & Philips B. (2022). Therapist-guided internet-based psychodynamic therapy versus cognitive behavioural therapy for adolescent depression in Sweden: a randomised, clinical, non-inferiority trial. The Lancet (British Edition), 4(8), e594–e603. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00095-4

This study compared internet-based psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) with an established evidence-based treatment (internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT)) for adolescents with depression. Participants aged 15-19 years with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (N=272) were recruited in Sweden and randomly assigned to receive IPDT or ICBT. Both online interventions consisted of 8 self-help modules delivered over 10 weeks. Modules contained text, videos, and interactive exercises. All participants were also offered 30 minutes of weekly therapist support via live chat. The primary outcome was change in depression severity measured weekly by a brief self-report measure (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology ()). Participants in both groups showed similar engagement levels and high completion rates (defined as completing at least five modules and chat sessions and post-treatment assessment). Depressive symptoms in both groups significantly improved during treatment. At the end of treatment, demonstrated that IPDT was non-inferior to ICBT in the treatment of depression for adolescents. Results contribute to the evidence base for feasibility of online delivery of both IPDT and ICBT for the treatment of depression among a late-adolescent population.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
09/30/2022

Can Smartphones Help Predict Suicide?

Article Excerpt: A unique research project is tracking hundreds of people at risk for suicide, using data from smartphones and wearable biosensors to identify periods of high danger — and intervene… In the field of mental health, few new areas generate as much excitement as machine learning, which uses computer algorithms to better predict human behavior. There is, at the same time, exploding interest in biosensors that can track a person’s mood in real time, factoring in music choices, social media posts, facial expression and vocal expression.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/4ay346zn

Article Source: The New York Times

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
09/26/2022

Predictors of adolescent engagement and outcomes – A cross-sectional study using the Togetherall (formerly Big White Wall) digital mental health platform

Marinova N, Rogers T, and MacBeth A. “Predictors of Adolescent Engagement and Outcomes – A Cross-Sectional Study Using the Togetherall (formerly Big White Wall) Digital Mental Health Platform.” Journal of affective disorders 311 (2022): 284–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.058

This study modelled predictors of engagement and symptom change in adolescent users of Togetherall anonymous digital mental health peer-support platform. Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of longitudinal user data from 606 Togetherall users (16-18 years old) referred from mental health services in the United Kingdom. Togetherall is a membership-based digital platform that supports delivery of peer support moderated by professionals, self-help materials, guided courses, digital art, and self-monitoring of mental well-being. Usage metrics, including number of logins, session duration, usage time, and number of guided courses and self-help materials accessed were collected. Participant characteristics and anxiety and depression symptoms were used to predict engagement and participants chose when and whether to complete a symptom measure. Average number of logins was 5.11 and mean usage time 64.22 minutes. 34% of participants discontinued use after one log-in. Total usage time predicted more access of self-help materials. Females made greater use of materials and courses than males. Higher baseline depression and anxiety, longer usage time, and session duration predicted lower post intervention depression scores. Higher baseline depression and anxiety and more self-help materials accessed predicted lower post intervention anxiety scores. Findings demonstrate that adolescents with significant levels of morbidity readily engaged with an anonymous online platform for support with mental health. Togetherall may offer a supportive community for adolescents using mental health services. Future studies are needed to establish effectiveness, adherence and acceptability using robust RCTs with active comparison groups.

Posted in: Cutting Edge Literature // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ;