Thought Leadership

When it comes to digital mental health, the old adage about a tree falling in the woods is as relevant as ever: If a digital mental health product launches, but is rarely used, does it actually help anyone?

The 20th of June was World Refugee Day, reminding us that almost 110 million people all over the world have been forced to flee their homes because of war, violence, conflict, or persecution, the highest number ever recorded. This year’s theme is “Hope away from home”, focusing on the inclusion …

The importance of promoting mental health and providing timely evidence-based care for people suffering from mental health conditions has perhaps never been so well recognized. Along with its many unprecedented challenges, the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about psychological distress and has catalyzed open discussions about …

I’m among those amazed by the power of OpenAI’ ChatGPT and new technologies using large language models (LLMs). There is no doubt that these innovations represent a new chapter in applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) for mental healthcare. However, I’ll start this article by focusing on the human patient, not the …

eMHIC Board Member and President and CEO of the National Mental Health Commission of Canada, Michel Rodrigue shares his thoughts on the eMHIC Congress held in November, 2022, saying “It gave me the a chance to examine some of the ways technology (while not the answer to all our problems) …

Learning from personal experiences, and the lived experience of other survivors, Dr Sandersan Onie shares his work that uses online data tracking to serve targeted suicide prevention ads.

In the face of high unmet mental health needs and overburdened mental health systems, scalable approaches to increase use of evidence-based interventions are essential. […] A key opportunity for both appeal and stickiness is increased use of gamification.

The recent inquest into the death of British teenager Molly Russell in 2017 has concluded that the 14-year-old “died from an act of self harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content”. For some people, this ruling will be confirmation of what they have long suspected …

Summary:    ‘Digital’ is an omnipresent yet often vague, misunderstood or feared topic in health services. There are many current and potential gains for individual patients and local populations, clinicians and organisations through optimisation of digital technologies. We argue that understanding the various aspects of digital psychiatry is an essential …

In the UK, a quarter of people who take their own lives were in contact with a health professional the previous week, and most have spoken to someone within the last month. Yet assessing patient suicide risk remains extremely difficult.     There were 5,219 recorded deaths by suicide in England in 2021. While …