Thursday, January 05, 2017

An app to help you take on depression: Help at your fingertips

   
 Bengaluru: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, has developed a self-care application as a tool to tackle depression. Practise and Use Self Help for Depression, or PUSH-D, will likely help sufferers - a vast majority of who don't seek help - overcome various barriers and begin to deal with their mental health condition.
     Nearly 150 million people in India suffer from mental health conditions and are in need of active interventions, according to Nimhans' National Mental Health Survey of India, 2015-16. The exhaustive 12-state survey of 34,802 individuals found that one in 20 Indians suffers from depression, with a higher incidence among women, the elderly, and those in urban metros.
“The survey indicates that more than 60 per cent do not seek professional help for various mental health problems including depression. There is a need for multiple measures to address this gap,” says Dr Seema Mehrotra, professor, Nimhans' department of clinical psychology, who lead the team developing the PUSH-D app. The team includes Dr Paulomi M Sudhir, Dr Girish Nagaraja Rao and Dr Jagadisha Thirthalli of Nimhans, and Professor TK Srikanth of IIIT, Bangalore.
   The many reasons for this are lack of awareness, stigma including self stigma, lack of access, time constraints in urban areas, and treatment cost, she says. “People have mixed feelings about seeking help for a mental condition. We wanted to see what we can do to help more people, and this is where technology comes in,” says Dr Mehrotra.
      As part of a two-year research project, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the team worked on creating a private and personal tool that a person would be able to wield in the battle against depression. In the works for nearly a year-and-and-half, PUSH-D is currently in pilot testing phase, and the study is expected to be completed later this year.
But the app is in no way meant to be a self diagnosis tool,” warns Dr Mehrotra. “The diagnosis is arrived at only after a thorough evaluation. This takes between one to two hours and is done either face-to-face or via Skype. Only if the depression severity is mild to moderate, and we feel the person can benefit by self-care, then we will generate a username and password for him/her to access the app.” The PUSH-D app, available through a website (https://echargementalhealth.nimhans.ac.in) and on Google Playstore, has two components: essentials zone, which requires the user to go over a series of sections in a predetermined sequence, and an optional zone, which has sections that can be accessed in any order.
     The techniques utilised are based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, positive psychology and interpersonal therapy all psychological approaches relied upon by clinical psychologists during face-to-face therapy with clients. “There are exercises that a person can take, and the responses would be recorded in a ‘workbook' on the app. At the back end, Nimhans' team will be able to monitor these for appropriate intervention as and when required,” adds Dr Mehrotra.
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     She estimates that a person with mild depression would be able to finish the entire module in about two-three months by sticking to 
a scheduled routine as one would while interfacing with a therapist. Considering people drop out of therapy or skip sessions, the app has devised a way to monitor progress and maintain motivation. There's a reminder on the app, motivational quotes, and reasons why the user shouldn't give up midway. The user is also assisted through weekly supportive calls. “PUSH-D is available in English for now. We want to create Hindi and Kannada versions if we can manage funding support for the same,” adds Dr Mehrotra. “We hope to complete the pilot trial by September.”
      
Source: DNA 3rd January,2017