The explosion of mental health apps raises substantial opportunities –and tough questions
In the eyes of the tech industry, mental health treatment is an area ripe for disruption.
In any given year, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience a form of mental illness, according to federal estimates. And research indicates only about half of them receive treatment in a system that is understaffed and ill distributed to meet demand.
For tech startups looking to cash in on unmet need, that translates into more than 50 million potential customers.
Venture capital firms invested more than $2.4 billion in digital behavioral health apps in 2020 — more than twice the amount invested in 2019 — touting support or treatment ...
Source: SharpBrains - June 28, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Kaiser Health News Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Technology & Innovation anxiety BetterHelp brain-illness Brightside cerebral depression digital behavioral health FDA Food and Drug Administration Ginger health apps mental illness mental-health-treatment Source Type: blogs
I bought into the stigmas about the mentally ill, until I became one of them
The first thing someone says when I tell them I have bipolar, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder is,“I’m sorry.” For a long time, I was sorry too. Bipolar runs in my family, so I knew the harsh realities of this untreated illness. A family member faked his own death after a counterfeiting spending spree. MyRead more …Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 15, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/sonja-wasden" rel="tag" > Sonja Wasden < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Psychiatry Source Type: blogs
How Body Weight Affects Blood Flow In The Brain (M)
Low blood flow to the brain is linked to dementia, depression, bipolar disorder and a range of other mental health problems. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - June 1, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Brain Health subscribers-only Source Type: blogs
“Tell Me More”
By HANS DUVEFELT
Words can be misleading. Medical terms work really well when shared between clinicians. But we can’t assume our patients speak the same language we do. If we “run with” whatever key words we pick up from our patient’s chief complaint, we can easily get lost chasing the wrong target.
Where I work, along the Canadian border, “Valley French” expressions tripped me up when I first arrived. The flu, or in French le flu (if that is how you spell it – I’ve never seen it in writing) is the word people use for diarrhea. Mal au cœur (heart pain) doesn’t mean angina or che...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 17, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Medical Practice Patients Physicians Primary Care Hans Duvefelt health communication Source Type: blogs
How can we help our brain-traumatized soldiers and vets? Nancy raises a ‘ call for ACTION ’ .
Nancy Martin-Crisco wrote a heart-rending response to a blog I posted (“How to get PTSD. Twice. Worse.”) that you all should read. Her son Christopher was diagnosed with PTSD after service in Afghanistan. After a few months stateside, he was redeployed to Baghdad. It was NOT good for him. Addiction, divorce, separation from his child, depression, anxiety, anger management issues, problems with relationships, poor focus, still PTSD, a feeling of worthlessness and shame because he’s here, with us, discharged because of his addiction after 10 years in the Army, instead of with his fellow soldiers, who he f...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - May 1, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Dr. Merzenich Tags: Brain Fitness Brain Trauma, Injury BrainHQ Cognitive impairments Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, et alia Source Type: blogs
A Blood Test For Depression And Bipolar Disorder (M)
The blood test, which is still at the experimental stage, may also help to match patients with treatments.
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Activate: How To Find Joy Again By Changing What You Do (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - April 29, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Bipolar Disorder Depression subscribers-only Source Type: blogs
Study: Depression affects visual perception … making it more accurate
The brightness of Figures A and B is exactly the same, but they are perceived differently due to a difference in the background. This illusion was perceived similarly by the patients and healthy control subjects. The contrast of Figures C and D is exactly the same as well, but the perception of this illusion was weaker among the depressed patients than the control subjects. (Salmela et al, J. Psychiatry Neurosci, 2021)
Depression affects visual perception (press release by University of Helsinki):
Researchers specialised in psychiatry and psychology at the University of Helsinki investigated the effects of depression on vi...
Source: SharpBrains - April 19, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Education & Lifelong Learning behavioural tests Cerebral Cortex cortical processing depression electrophysiology perception tests psychiatry Psychology visual-perception Source Type: blogs
Black peer support: A role in mental health recovery
It’s been a troubling year for millions of Americans, marked by public reckonings over inequities in justice, health care, and most certainly mental health care. None of these inequities are new. Estimates suggest that only 22% of Black Americans — fewer than one in four — who need mental health care actually receive treatment. In addition to financial and insurance barriers to mental health treatment, a long history of discrimination in medicine makes it difficult for some people of color to form trusting relationships with medical providers. And that’s one reason why peer support has been gaining traction to help...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 8, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Valeria Chambers, EdM, CAS, CPS Tags: Anxiety and Depression Health Health care disparities Mental Health Relationships Source Type: blogs
From digital therapeutics to personalized mental health solutions: Pear Therapeutics expands platform via partnerships with Empatica, etectRx, KeyWise, and Winterlight
Pear Therapeutics Expands Platform with Digital Biomarkers, Machine Learning Algorithms and Sensor-Based Technologies (press release):
Pear Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it has entered into agreements with multiple technology companies, including Empatica Inc., etectRx, Inc., and KeyWise, Inc. The new technologies complement the voice-based biomarkers previously licensed from Winterlight Labs. These new agreements bolster Pear’s Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDT) platform, by adding to its library of digital biomarkers, machine learning algorithms, sensor-based technologies, and digital therapeutics.
The n...
Source: SharpBrains - April 7, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Technology & Innovation digital biomarkers digital therapeutics Empatica etectRx KeyWise Pear Therapeutics WinterLight Labs Source Type: blogs
Calming the Mind: Dialectical Behavior Therapy & Addiction
Calming the Mind: Dialectical Behavior Therapy& Addiction People take pride in who they are. You can find comfort or confidence...The postCalming the Mind: Dialectical Behavior Therapy& Addiction appeared first onCliffside Malibu. (Source: Cliffside Malibu)
Source: Cliffside Malibu - February 22, 2021 Category: Addiction Authors: Cliffside Malibu Tags: Addiction dbt manic mental health Source Type: blogs
In Times Of Anxiety and Low Mood, Focusing On Past Successes Could Improve Decision-Making
By Emily Reynolds
When you’re going through a period of anxiety or depression it can be difficult to make decisions, whether those are significant life changes or more mundane, everyday choices about prioritising tasks or time management. And those with generalised anxiety disorder or mood disorders often report feeling uncomfortable with or distressed by feelings of uncertainty — which doesn’t help when you need to make a decision, big or small.
Now in a new study in the journal eLife, Christopher Gagne from UC Berkeley and colleagues find that people with higher levels of anxiety and depression are less able...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - February 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Decision making Mental health Source Type: blogs
The landscape of digital mental health apps: huge unmet needs, quality concerns, app stores asked to ensure transparency
Addressing the mental health crisis (Pharma Field):
Each day we find out more about the mental health effects of the pandemic. Early on, the Office for National Statistics found that one in five Britons reported symptoms of depression, compared with one in 10 before. And, according to a recent study led by the University of Nottingham and King’s College London, stress, anxiety and depression were all significantly higher in participants compared with ‘population norms’, with 64% of the participants reporting symptoms of depression and 57% reporting symptoms of anxiety.
… Through simple force of necessity, COVID-19 ...
Source: SharpBrains - February 5, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Brain/ Mental Health Technology & Innovation advertising standards cognitive behavioural therapy consumer protection digital health digital health applications digital mental health digital mental health interventions digital therapeutic Source Type: blogs
The Art of Prescribing (Or Not)
By HANS DUVEFELT
I have learned a few things about prescribing medications during my 42 years as a physician. Some are old lessons, and some are more recent. I thought I’d share some random examples.
First: I don’t like to have to use medications, but when they seem necessary, I choose, present and prescribe them with great care.
CHOOSING MEDICATIONS
Medications are like people. They have personalities. With so many choices for any given diagnosis or symptom, I consider their mechanism of action, possible beneficial additional effects and their risk of unwanted side effects when selecting which one to presc...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 1, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Medical Practice Patients Physicians Primary Care Hans Duvefelt Source Type: blogs
February 2021: Clinical Presentation Provides Clue to Toxicity
A 43-year-old man with a history of bipolar disorder, hypertension, and asthma presented with altered mental status and a tremor. He reported increasing fatigue and hand tremors for one day. He said he and his family recently had food poisoning with vomiting and diarrhea for several days. Those symptoms had resolved. He continued to take all of his prescribed medications, which included lithium carbonate (Lithobid) 800 mg BID and amlodipine 10 mg daily.His initial vital signs were a heart rate of 104 bpm, a blood pressure of 136/82 mm Hg, a respiratory rate of 16 bpm, an oxygen saturation of 99% on room air, and a temperat...
Source: The Tox Cave - January 29, 2021 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Dexter Surgical Robot Works with All Laparoscopy Tools
Robotic laparoscopic surgery is now widely available, with Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci systems being the most common robots out there. These systems typically require specialty tools provided by the robot manufacturer, and the selection is quite limited compared with the wide array of conventional laparoscopic tools that exist. Now, Distalmotion, a Swiss firm, has won European regulatory clearance to introduce its Dexter Surgical Robot that works with any laparoscopic tools.
The Dexter is designed to be easy to bring in and out of the surgical space and used when robotic manipulation can help with increased prec...
Source: Medgadget - January 7, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Cardiac Surgery Ob/Gyn Plastic Surgery Thoracic Surgery Urology Source Type: blogs
