Photo caption: Many apps that provide mental health services are based on artificial intelligence algorithms that haven't been properly vetted for ethical and moral concerns, affecting already vulnerable people. Imagine calling a suicide prevention hotline in a crisis. Do you ask for their data collection policy? Do you assume that your data are protected and kept secure? Recent events may make you consider your answers more carefully.

According to a WHO prediction, by 2020, roughly 20% of India will suffer from some mental illness and 450 million people currently suffer from a mental illness, worldwide. These numbers are a wake-up call that psychology as an issue and psychologists as a profession must be taken seriously. Such helping professions are often considered as human channels. Unlike manual workers whose job responsibilities are being taken over by machines and AI bots, psychiatrists and counselors see no threat to their professions with the advancements of machine learning and artificial intelligence. According to an influential survey of the future of employment by Carl Benedikt Frey and Micheal Osborne who are Oxford economists, the probability that psychology could be automated in the future is only 0.43%.

In 2018, California's state government began rolling out a new "mental health" initiative. The tech companies of Silicon Valley were creating smartphone apps that could prompt users to seek mental health care, and the state wanted to provide support. After all, researchers claim that more than half of Americans with mental health problems don't receive treatment, and one reason for that might be that treatment is expensive or unavailable in certain regions. Of the thousands of mental health apps in existence today, the state selected two. The first app is called 7 Cups, by a company called 7 Cups of Tea. They're focused on connecting mental health service users, in text-based chat sessions, with what they call "listeners"--volunteers who are trained in "active listening." But, according to The New York Times, the company has been plagued with issues, including listeners having inappropriate conversations with their clients and investigations of its alleged financial misconduct. The other company partnering with the state of California is Mindstrong Health. Their app (branded Mindstrong on March 17, 2020, previously known as Health) is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. However, you can only use the app if you have been given a code to participate by one of the health insurance companies they've partnered with. The company won't tell you which companies they work with--it's by invitation only.

In 2018, California's state government began rolling out a new "mental health" initiative. The tech companies of Silicon Valley were creating smartphone apps that could prompt users to seek mental health care, and the state wanted to provide support. After all, researchers claim that more than half of Americans with mental health problems don't receive treatment, and one reason for that might be that treatment is expensive or unavailable in certain regions. Of the thousands of mental health apps in existence today, the state selected two. The first app is called 7 Cups, by a company called 7 Cups of Tea. They're focused on connecting mental health service users, in text-based chat sessions, with what they call "listeners"--volunteers who are trained in "active listening." But, according to The New York Times, the company has been plagued with issues, including listeners having inappropriate conversations with their clients and investigations of its alleged financial misconduct. The other company partnering with the state of California is Mindstrong Health. Their app (branded Mindstrong on March 17, 2020, previously known as Health) is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. However, you can only use the app if you have been given a code to participate by one of the health insurance companies they've partnered with. The company won't tell you which companies they work with--it's by invitation only.

As the Brett Kavanaugh hearings dominated the news cycle in September, Silicon Valley–based mental health startup Ginger found its app buzzing with sexual assault survivors who were reporting feelings of heightened anxiety, anger and powerlessness. It scanned the words users typed to their therapists in a bid to better understand the patient's situation and then recommended how the health professionals might intervene. The therapists were then able to provide coping strategies based on an individual's needs. For Ginger co-founder Karan Singh, the reason for developing the app was personal. After learning of a friend's suicide attempt, Singh decided to help develop better resources for people suffering from depression.

Last December, Jesse Taylor was worried that the stress of his job and being a stay-at-home dad for his infant son was taking its toll. Taylor, 36, lives in Winnipeg and works as an operations manager for an online business. He felt overwhelmed by his responsibilities and distracted by the sleep deprivation that often comes with caring for a young child. And then his wife suggested that Taylor try one of Thriveport's mental health apps. "She suggested I give it a go to get out of those negative talk tracks I had gotten into from lack of sleep," he says.

Contrary to popular belief, video games might actually be beneficial for mental health. A joint study by the University of Washington and the University of California San Francisco found that people responded better to treatment through a mobile game than to traditional in-person therapy. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Depression and Anxiety, focused on adults over 60 who had been diagnosed with late onset depression, a specific form categorized by an inability to focus due to overwhelming worry. Half the group received the mobile technology treatment, called Project: EVO, while the other half received an in-person treatment known as problem-solving therapy. The participants who used Project: EVO reported improved moods and increased attention span and ability to function.