Why We Don't Need Mental Health Apps

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Thousands of mobile apps promise to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms, improve concentration and save us from overload. But do they work? And is such interference with mental activity always safe?

Many mental health experts agree that nothing can replace human touch. Others, that for smartphones and the interference of technology in our lives - the future. Millions are invested in applications. But are they really that effective?

John Torous, a PhD student in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has researched mental health applications for the past few years. He recently sought help from the American Psychiatric Association to evaluate commercial smartphone apps and develop guidelines for their use.

According to Toros, entrepreneurs are investing in psychoactive applications because they are easier to market than other medical applications. In matters of consciousness and subconsciousness, there are few objective markers of assessment, changes are recorded depending on the patient's feelings. It is difficult to understand what and how affects the mental health of the user. How to measure improvement in mood, for example? And is it really important to measure it? Apps like Scrabble are positive, but that has nothing to do with mental health.

Another reason for the increased interest is the ability to customize the platform with feedback, that is, to make an application with virtual consultations, mindfulness meditation, and so on.

The big question is whether apps really help manage depression and bipolar disorder. But there are simply no high-quality, randomized, double-blind studies on this topic. Most of the research is paid for by the manufacturers, that is, there is no question of impartiality. In addition, these studies typically involve fewer than 20 people. They report that the applications are interesting. But the interest of the patients says nothing about the effectiveness of these instruments.

Most app developers turn to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to solve current problems and change attitudes.

The therapy itself has proven effective. But applications based on it are not.

Scientists recently conducted a randomized trial involving nearly 700 depressed patients. We could not find any difference in the results between those who used the applications and those who did not use them.

If the benefits are questionable, can applications harm? Finding the answer to this question is difficult. But there is no individual approach to each patient in the applications. In addition, programs collect a large amount of personal data that is not always reliably protected (and can even be used for commercial purposes).

Just look at the terms of use for such applications. They are full of psychiatric terms that hide information that the application has nothing to do with medicine and psychology.

Researchers on iTunes over 700 mindfulness apps. Of these, only 23 actually contained exercises or educational information. And only one application relied on empirical evidence. By the way, John Toros himself considers the terms of the application to be good in terms of safety and transparency by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

So most mental and brain applications are black boxes. Decide if you want to experiment with yourself like this.