Mental Health Awareness Week: Can AI Tools Transform Mental Well-being?

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As we reach the halfway point of Mental Health Awareness Week, it’s important to acknowledge the significance of prioritising our mental well-being. 

Although the advancement of technology can cause worry for many people, the rapidly advancing digital world has produced some exciting AI technology to support and improve mental health in a variety of ways. From stress reduction and promoting self-care to enhancing overall mental well-being, AI tools may become valuable in helping you improve your mental health. 

Many people are already using AI to help them reduce stress in everyday life, for example inputting their days tasks into an AI Chatbot, and asking it to give them a schedule for their day. AI powered chatbots and virtual assistants can offer accessible and immediate support, deliver coping strategies, and even just be a good sounding board. 

By leveraging AI technology, we can create cost-effective and personalised mental health strategies, making mental heath support more accessible to everyone. We can also use AI data to further our understanding of mental health conditions. 

Of course, AI technologies are not a replacement for in-person therapies and support, they can offer a helping hand to get you on the right path. 

Mental Health Chatbots can provide conversational interactions, and can offer emotional support, provide coping strategies, and deliver therapy techniques. Some organisations are using AI powered Virtual Reality software to create immersive environments to aid with things like exposure therapy, or relaxation exercises. 

For research purposes, AI algorithms can analyse text to detect patterns and sentiments associated with mental health. This can be valuable for understanding trends in mental health discussions by helping us build profiles and more accurate diagnostic methods.

Some helpful AI-powered tools include: 

  • Woebot:
    Woebot is a free to download app that can deliver cognitive-behavioural therapy techniques and emotional support through conversations with users. The app allows you to set a ‘check-in time’ when it will send you a notification to check in on you. As with most AI tools, the more you use the app the better it can help you, it learns about you and stores information that helps it offer you personalised support and offer the best techniques and guidance for you. 
  • ChatGPT:
    Although ChatGPT is not specifically designed to help with mental well-being, it is very good at creating structured schedules or organising data. Inputting a list of tasks you need to complete within the day and asking it to create schedules can reduce stress and help you stay organised. This can be especially beneficial to Neurodivergent people, like those with ADHD or Autism, where time management can be especially difficult.
    ChatGPT can also read and summarise large amounts of text, which is helpful on days where you may be struggling to read and comprehend information. 
  • XenZone:
    XenZone is an online mental health platform that aims to provide access to the most relevant therapists, counsellors, and self-help resources through AI. It offers confidential support for various mental health concerns and points users in the right direction for them to access the support they require. 
  • Thrive:
    Thrive is an app that uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques to support users in managing their mental well-being. It can provide mood tracking tools, self help tools and relaxation exercises to help users manage stress and build coping skills that work for them. 

As with all AI, these systems are constantly learning and evolving, and hopefully in time they can offer more comprehensive advice and gather important research data allowing us to gain a better understanding of mental well-being. 

So, AI tools can help us stay organised to reduce stress levels, understand ourselves better, offer support and understanding, and point users in the direction of in-person mental health support resources. 

It is important to remember that although AI tools can offer help and support, they can’t and should not replace personal interaction or professional care. AI is designed to compliment existing mental health services and help users lighten their mental load. 
 

Published: 17/05/2023 Published by: WJPS

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