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The Dawn of Digital Psychiatry
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The Dawn of Digital Psychiatry

Abstract

The digital world has been growing exponentially, changing the way we do science—both in how we generate and disseminate it. This has consequently opened up opportunities to improve mental healthcare. Mobile interventions, real-time symptom monitoring, chatbots, and digital phenotyping are among those opportunities that take mental health outside of the office, empowering patients in their own treatment. However, these approaches do not rule out the presence of mental health professionals, who not only use technology for telepsychiatry consultations, but also for more effective and data-driven diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up in the clinic. New technologies can support direct interventions with patients, the collection of data outside the office, either active or passively, and a clearer look at the data both for patients and providers with the help of data curators. To guarantee privacy, efficacy, and evaluate risks attached to the treatment provided by these apps, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) developed an evaluation model to do such assessment. This way the clinician–patient relationship can expand, providing more clinical insights to both clinicians and patients and a more empathetic look for providers at their own patients. Ethical concerns must be considered when talking about the integration of technology with mental healthcare, but its perceived advantages, such as accessibility, efficacy, and engagement, promise a new era in this important department worldwide.

Authors

Zimerman A; Montezano BB; Vecchia GFD; Kapczinski F; Passos IC

Book title

Digital Mental Health

Pagination

pp. 1-11

Publisher

Springer Nature

Publication Date

January 1, 2023

DOI

10.1007/978-3-031-10698-9_1

Labels

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

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