A Happy, Healthy Mind: The New Technologies Revolutionizing Behavioral Therapy

Advances in behavioral healthcare technology like AI diagnostics, VR, and direct brain stimulation are rapidly changing how we treat mental health issues.

With roughly 29% of the world's population experiencing some form of mental health disorder at some point in their life, the need for effective and accessible behavioral health has never been more prevalent. Depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are just a few of the struggles people can experience, and they all require outside help to overcome.

Modern technological innovations can make treatment more accessible and more effective than ever. Today, we'll review some of the most important developments in behavioral healthcare technology.

AI-Powered Diagnostics

For both physical and behavioral healthcare, AI is being explored as a way to diagnose and treat patients more effectively. In the world of behavioral health, machine learning algorithms can be trained on massive data sets including patient records, brain scans, and even social media posts to identify various disorders.

An AI can then take this information to identify potentially at-risk individuals, develop custom treatment strategies, and even answer common behavioral health questions. This lets therapists focus on more complicated issues that demand their attention.

Tele-psychiatry and Virtual Care

The implementation and acceptance of telehealth and virtual care has affected both physical and behavioral healthcare. By contacting a provider remotely, patients in remote and rural areas can still access care, especially if they're given a medical tablet with secure encryption features.

Telehealth is particularly useful for mental health, as many patients feel self-conscious or worry about facing stigma simply for seeking treatment. By meeting their therapist in private over a secure Internet connection, patients can get the treatment they need without publicly exposing this fact.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality is seeing use in exposure therapy, as it provides a safe and controlled environment to interact with. For example, a therapist can use VR to confront phobias without directly exposing a patient to the source of the phobia itself.

If a patient experiences a fear of heights, then the therapist can use VR to place them in a simulated environment, like at the top of a tower. The tower and its heights are not real, of course, but it is still realistic enough to be a meaningful confrontation with the source of the patient's fears. This technique can be used for other phobias or to confront anxiety disorders.

Direct Brain Stimulation

Directly affecting a patient's brain has typically required surgery (which is highly invasive and takes a long time to recover from) or medication (which can come with a host of other side effects). Newer technologies like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is non-invasive and equivalent to just an MRI in terms of radiation, making it an enticing alternative to older methods of treatment.

While the technology is still being refined, TMS has shown promising results for treating depression, with results similar to modern antidepressants. It also does so with fewer side effects than conventional medication, which many patients struggle with as part of their treatment.

Wearables

Miniature sensors in smartwatches and other types of wearable medical devices can track physical symptoms of behavioral health, such as heart rate, body temperature, and sleep patterns. These parameters can be tracked and uploaded to the patient's EMR, which therapists can then securely access on medical-grade computers to better understand their physical state. It can even help identify patterns or predict future issues they might face.

Closing Thoughts

As stigma fades and technology improves, we will continue to see new treatment methods that will deliver more accurate treatment with fewer side effects. If you're looking for medical-grade tablets and computers to support your behavioral health efforts, contact the team at Cybernet Manufacturing. We'd be happy to help you find the perfect devices for your needs.