Mental illness, also known as mental disorder, is characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation or behaviour. In 2019, approximately 970 million people around the world were living with a mental disorder. However, current treatments, such as psychiatric medication therapy, can lead to harmful side effects and severe problems. Technologies have the potential to revolutionize the field of mental health treatment by improving access to care, enhancing diagnosis and monitoring, and offering new avenues for therapy. In this article, Alcimed explores 5 emerging mental health technologies that can complement existing treatments to improve the overall quality of care for clinically diagnosed medical disorders.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that by 2030, mental diseases would become the most significant factor contributing to the global burden of disease. A mental disorder is the harmful failure of internal mechanisms to perform one of its psychological functions. While drug-based treatment can be effective for individuals living with chronic mental illness, issues such as long-term reliance on medications, debilitating side effects, variation in treatment response and treatment non-adherence, may affect the effectiveness of current mental health treatments. The use of mental health technologies can complement existing drug treatments to improve the overall quality of care of severe and chronic mental disorders.
