The COVID-19 outbreak three years ago and the consequences generated by the pandemic had a very negative impact on the mental health of many people around the world. New measures, such as the imposition of strict quarantines, restructuring such as remote working, or factors such as fear of contagion, added to previous ones, such as the influence of social media and economic instability. All those factors ended up triggering a 25% increase in the number of depression and anxiety cases . 

In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) mentions that 1 in 8 people worldwide has a mental disorder (i.e., 1 billion people), costing the global economy $16 trillion. The organization warns that depression will become the most considerable global health burden by 2030. 

For these reasons, mental health began to take on even greater relevance than it previously had, leading the focus of world opinion and attracting vast amounts of investment. In this sense, today, we see that the eye of VC Investment Funds is on this market, to the point that their investment has increased by 1,376%. In just four years, in 2021, investments reached 871 million dollars. What's more, the youth mental health market is expected to reach $26 billion by 2027. 

While it can't always be guaranteed that where the money goes so do the solutions, the outlook's more than encouraging. That's because current technology and the innovative speed of this field allow clinical science to be empowered by technological entrepreneurship and the disruption of super-powered technologies such as AI and big data. 

Before we continue, it's necessary to mention that the advice you'll find here isn't a recommendation from a mental health professional. In case you think you might be suffering from a mental health problem, we recommend you seek help from qualified sites such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness or the Mental Health Foundation. 

In this article, we'll tell you about five technological solutions that can help you improve your mental health and that of your team. We will delve into how these new technologies can empower you or help you find answers to the questions, doubts, or pains that plague you.

E-mental health

The Internet has created a revolution since its eruption. Virtuality is here to stay. We can see it in the growing options we have thanks to it. Some examples of it are being more in touch with family and friends, even if we're at a distance, or buying goods and services that can be on the other side of the world. 

But even with all these new ideas, it has taken a while for telemedicine, or telehealth, to become a reality. At the forefront of this revolution is e-mental health. It's also called: telemental health, telepsychiatry, or telepsychology, and it uses videoconferencing technology to deliver mental health services. This modality is advancing by leaps and bounds thanks to numerous benefits mentioned by the NIMH, such as: 

• Convenience

You don't need to travel to see the doctor, nor do you need to spend considerable time away from other activities. In addition, you can schedule appointments earlier and at more flexible times.

• Greater reach

People living in areas with little or no access to mental health services can now enjoy them just by using the internet. 

• Fewer barriers

Mental health services can be an easier first step than traditional mental health services, for those who may have been hesitant to seek mental health care in the past.

• No stigma

This modality increases patients' privacy (e.g., they won't meet another person in the waiting room), which can alleviate anxiety and promote treatment acceptance. In addition, it generates the online disinhibition effect that facilitates sharing personal information when in front of a screen.

In this category, we can find online therapy services such as BetterHelp, Talkspace, CarbonHealth, or Wellnite.

Gaming for mental health

Video games for mental health? Gaming and mental health may seem like opposites if you aren't very familiar with the subject. But that mindset is far from the truth. In fact, in 2020, the FDA approved the first game prescribed for children with ADHD. In this regard, one of the most talked about cases is SPARX, a video game that's more effective than individual counseling at treating adolescent depression. 

Following this idea, Oxford University found that playing video games can improve your mental health and make you happier. This is because video games produce healthy brain stimulation, relieve stress, combat loneliness, help people develop coping mechanisms for difficult situations, and provide a good context for people to express their true selves.

Apps for mental health

According to CNet and APA, between 10,000 and 20,000 mental health self-help apps are available. This category offers interesting examples, such as Moodify, to combat negative thoughts. Other options include the highly popular Headspace or Calm, which provide an alternative to mindfulness and meditation. And thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing, we can expect chatbots such as Woebot and Wysa to become even smarter and more capable of interacting with us.

Considering the app options on the market, one might be tempted to think they're replacing the traditional consultation with a therapist. However, research shows that mental health apps enhance traditional therapies by being a great way of monitoring and improving your emotional well-being, so much so that psychologists themselves often prescribe them. This assures us that today's technology is poised to transform how mental health treatments are offered and accessed.

Virtual reality (VR) & augmented reality (AR) for mental health

People who are depressed, anxious, autistic, afraid, or stressed out at work need to find a way to turn off their minds for a while to keep good mental health. Some may practice a sport, read, watch a movie, socialize, or meditate, to escape reality. Still, new developments in the field of escapism use augmented and virtual reality instead. 

The advantage of these technologies is that they can create a completely immersive new reality. It lets users act out fictional situations in a way that feels real. Thus, both VR and AR have proven to be effective in treating certain types of phobias and social anxiety, always complementary tools to therapy. Moreover, the advances we're seeing in this field will make it possible to create more realistic environments, making therapy more effective and allowing it to cover more ground. 

Digital resources for mental health

To wrap up this list, we must remember the point that helped us support the information we shared throughout this article: countless online resources. Sometimes we're only a google search away from the answer to an important question, or we may find a video on YouTube that helps us relax and clear our minds.

Mental health support, therapy, and education resources are available online. Since there are countless options, here are some recommendations to start with: Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, the UT Austin Digital Resources for Mental Health at All Ages, the School of Life YT Channel, and many others. 

We hope that by reading about these five tech innovations for better mental health, you can better understand which one might work best for you or the person you're trying to help. 

Keep in mind that technology is advancing at a rapid pace! Because of that, this article is meant to highlight the most relevant technologies of today's world. In the future, we'll write about emerging healthcare technologies too.