New smartphone detects your mood and helps treat Depression

by Swati on February 12th, 2012 1

The next time you find yourself in a depressed state of mind, you don’t have to pop those anti-depressants, or even head to your psychotherapist. Just grab your smartphone, and you will be snapped out of your depression in a jiffy.

Scientists at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine center are working on a new smartphone that detects your depression and acts as a therapist, providing you with solutions to cope up with the problem.

“We’re inventing new ways technology can help people with mental health problems. These new approaches could offer fundamentally new treatment options to people who are unable to access traditional services or who are uncomfortable with standard psychotherapy. They also can be offered at significantly lower costs which makes them more viable in an era of limited resources,” said psychologist David Mohr, director of the new Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School.

This innovative smart phone called Mobilyze! reads your mood, and detects your location and activity level (via an accelerometer), by using the sensor data within the phone. The phone studies your lifestyle patterns – and if it discovers that you are spending time alone for long hours and feeling down and out– it will suggest you to call your friends, or take some other action to handle depression. The technology, which still is being tweaked, was found to help reduce symptoms of depression, when tested in a small pilot study.

“By prompting people to increase behaviors that are pleasurable or rewarding, we believe that Mobilyze! will improve mood. It creates a positive feedback loop. Someone is encouraged to see friends, then enjoys himself and wants to do it again. Ruminating alone at home has the opposite effect and causes a downward spiral,” Mohr added.

The National Institutes of Health-funded center is also developing a virtual human therapist to help depressed teens, that are often reluctant to see a therapist; and a medicine bottle that reminds those suffering from depression to take anti-depressant medication regularly, and informs the doctor if it thinks that the dosage needs to be changed.

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