Trend: Harnessing digital tech to improve mental health and wellness

From mindfulness apps to virtual therapy sessions, digital tools offer instant access to wellness resources (The Globe and Mail): In 2015, Brie Code was working at leading video game company Ubisoft as lead artificial intelligence programmer when she realized that many people she knew – about half, by her estimation – found video games boring. … Code left Ubisoft to develop exactly that type of game. Her AI company, Tru Luv, launched its first product, a game appropriately titled #SelfCare, in 2018. Designed with the help of Dutch academic Isabela Granic, a professor at the Behavioural Science Institute (BSI) at Radboud University in the Netherlands and director of the Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab, the game is centred around an avatar who stays in bed for the day and aims to relax players by using soothing music, muted colours and self-care practices. Think meditative tasks such as word games and guided breathing exercises. There’s no way to win, compete or binge – in fact, it deliberately starts to feel boring after a few minutes of play, which disincentivizes mindless scrolling. #SelfCare was an instant hit, garnering half a million downloads in its first six weeks without any advertising … Games like #SelfCare are part of a growing wave of digital wellness tools, which also include popular apps such as Headspace and Calm, for guided meditation; Somryst, an FDA-approved “prescription-only digital therapeutic” that uses cognitive behavioural ther...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Technology & Innovation Breathing Calm chronic insomnia Clue cognitive behavioural therapy digital mental health digital therapeutic digital wellness Global Wellness Institute global wellness market Headspace Source Type: blogs