Open AccessDigital Technologies in Psychiatry: Present and Future
Author(s) -
Mathew E. Hirschtritt,
Thomas R. Insel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
focus/focus (american psychiatric publishing. online)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1541-4108
pISSN - 1541-4094
DOI - 10.1176/appi.focus.20180001
Subject(s) - mental health , field (mathematics) , emerging technologies , engineering ethics , mental health care , digital health , health care , data science , psychology , computer science , medicine , engineering , psychiatry , political science , artificial intelligence , mathematics , law , pure mathematics
The digital revolution has reached the world of mental health. Prominent examples include the rapidly growing use of mobile health apps, the integration of sophisticated machine learning or artificial intelligence for clinical decision support and automated therapy, and the incorporation of virtual reality-based treatments. These diverse technologies hold the promise of addressing several important problems in mental health care, including lack of measurement, uneven access to clinicians, delay in receiving care, fragmentation of care, and negative attitudes toward psychiatry. Here, the authors summarize the current and swiftly changing state of digital mental health. Specifically, they highlight the current unmet needs that emerging technologies may be able to address; summarize what digital health can offer for assessment, treatment, and care integration; and describe some of the challenges and some new directions for innovations in this field. The review concludes with guidance for clinicians to integrate digital technologies into their work and to provide responsible and useful advice to their patients.