The automation and analytical power afforded by computing technologies can offer unique functionalities and new tools, with the potential to radically transform mental healthcare.
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From Social Media to Social Support How digital health solutions are combating the mental health pandemic BY NAYANTARA BHAT
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ental health issues have long concerned governments and health professionals, but awareness of their spread and how to tackle them remains low, especially in developing countries and low-income communities. An unexpected common denominator could offer the solution: technology, and social media in particular. Social media has been both a help and a hindrance for those affected by mental health disorders. Some platforms are beneficial, but others have been pinpointed as the root of mental illnesses that plague many youth today. Readers, particularly parents and teachers, may remember the year 2013, when a number of teen suicides were provoked by the social platform Ask.fm. 74
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The website, which allows users to ask and answer questions anonymously, became a place where cyberbullying ran rampant. Business Insider reported in September 2013 that nine teenagers in the United States and United Kingdom were driven to suicide by anonymous hate messages. Orygen, Australia’s national service promoting mental wellbeing among the youth population, has become the authority on healthtech for mental disorders through their digital team, eOrygen. The Melbourne-based mental health research organization hopes a new take on social media can offer some reprieve for teenagers or adults who are suffering from common mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Orygen’s tech lead Dr Simon D’Alfonso
January 2019
is developing Moderated Online Social Therapy (MOST), a social media platform and research initiative that aims to discover how best to create engaging technology for young people with mental illnesses. Given that clinics are often strapped by limited time and resources, the platform also explores how technology use can reinforce the therapeutic techniques and recovery that comes from face-to-face therapy. “The primary goal is to develop an evidence-based app that powers effective online psychosocial interventions,” says D’Alfonso. He adds that a real-life application of MOST would be to introduce the platform to mental health clinic patients to support their regular therapy sessions. MOST consists of three elements: Facebook-style social networking, specialized therapy components that help users develop and reinforce psychological skills like self-compassion, and a forum-like feature where users can pose and crowdsource solutions to everyday mental health problems. Users work to develop a range of psychological skills and are asked to demonstrate their learnings in real-life scenarios. They can then seek support from the community or trained moderators. The system is designed to create a constant back and forth between the patient’s therapy and social interactions as a means of reinforcing takeaways from their treatment. It also includes a ‘Job Zone’ with vocational opportunities and can be adapted to a variety of mental health disorders to maximize its reach. “The specialized platform we have developed attempts to avoid some of the negative pitfalls of social media behemoths,” says D’Alfonso. In his words: “social media is a double-edged sword.” Globally, declining mental health is reaching alarming rates. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates
