Spreading Activation Mobile app could stop suicide by analysing language to spot risk

Researchers are developing an app which could help to prevent suicides by flagging those most at risk. Using a computer algorithm, it records conversations, analysing what people say and how they speak. By picking up on a range of subtle verbal and non-verbal cues, it can correctly classify if someone is suicidal with 93 per cent accuracy. At the heart of the app is a machine learning algorithm which classifies the person based on their responses. In an earlier study, researchers enrolled a mix of 379 patients, who were suicidal, diagnosed as mentally ill, or neither.