IMO, passive mental health apps are the 21st century versions of those scammy motivational DVDs. The ones that actually have therapists on the other side you can call or text chat are better, but the gold standard is still you and a medical professional sitting in a room together. There are subtleties that a proper mental health professional.can pick up on that would be lost if you weren’t in person.
That being said, I think the biggest reason these apps are getting popular is because proper mental health support in the West is severely understaffed, under funded, with very long wait times for appointments, and in places like the US, prohibitively expensive.
Speaking as a mental illness sufferer in Canada, who was actually lucky enough to find a psychiatrist to help me.
IMO, passive mental health apps are the 21st century versions of those scammy motivational DVDs. The ones that actually have therapists on the other side you can call or text chat are better, but the gold standard is still you and a medical professional sitting in a room together. There are subtleties that a proper mental health professional.can pick up on that would be lost if you weren’t in person.
That being said, I think the biggest reason these apps are getting popular is because proper mental health support in the West is severely understaffed, under funded, with very long wait times for appointments, and in places like the US, prohibitively expensive.
Speaking as a mental illness sufferer in Canada, who was actually lucky enough to find a psychiatrist to help me.