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App for serious mental illness starts clinic-training phase

Posted: 29 July 2022

 

The phone-based technology is "the closest thing to a therapist in patients’ pockets," says its project lead in psychiatry at UW Medicine.

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From apps to avatars, new tools for taking control of your mental health

By Amy Ellis Nutt

Posted: 2 July 2018

 

Rigorous examination of these apps is what motivates psychologist Dror Ben-Zeev, director of mobile mental health services at the University of Washington. His intervention, still in the testing stage, is a kind of pocket therapist. 

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NatCon19: TED Talk - Dror Ben-Zeev
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National Council for Behavioral Health TED Talk

Posted: 7 June 2019

 

In his TED-Style Talk, “The Future of Mental Health Care is Sitting in Your Pocket,” Dror Ben-Zeev, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, highlights the innovative uses of mobile technology in mental health care.

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Poor countries are developing a new paradigm of mental health care. America is taking note.

By Sigal Samuel

Updated 28 November 2022

 

"This is what the future of mental health could look like."

App created at UW helps treat severe mental illness on-demand

By John Knicely

Posted: 29 May 2018

A 3-year study on the FOCUS app just wrapped up. The results show it had a significantly better rate at getting patients to engage in treatment than a scheduled trip to the clinic. 

Even Those with Severe Mental Illness Benefit from Therapy Apps

By Dror Ben-Zeev

Posted: 22 Sept 2015

 

In researching an array of mobile phone apps for people with severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, my research group has found that some interventions can definitely benefit those who use them.

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Unconventional methods could help teens struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts

By Hana Kim

Posted: 25 Sept 2018

"He had just turned 14-- this was six weeks before we lost him," Gilligan said of her son Palmer Burk. The Vashon Island mom is on a mission to prevent more teens from dying by suicide.

How Smartphone Apps Can Treat Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

By Davey Alba

Posted: 20 Nov 2014

 

Bryan Timlin always carries an iPhone and an Android phone.The 57-year-old is an app and graphic designer with a Michigan company called OptHub, but he doesn’t carry two phones for work. He carries the iPhone because that’s what he likes, and he carries the Android because it’s what he needs.

How Does That Make You Tweet? How Therapists Can and Should use Social Media to Monitor Clients

By Kathleen Smith

Posted: 25 Nov 2014

 

Paparazzi aren’t the only ones documenting former child star Amanda Bynes’ mental health problems. Bynes’ most recent hospitalization occurred when she tweeted accusations that her father sexually abused her, then blamed the false statement on the “microchip” in her brain.

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Could Phone App Help People with Mental Illness in Ghana?

By Brian Donahue

Posted: 13 October 2022

 

In 2017, when psychologist Dror Ben-Zeev first traveled to Ghana, he was braced for the disheartening sight of people chained to trees and concrete. He had heard that such forced confinement and a regimen of daily prayers was routine for people with serious mental illness who received treatment at prayer camps run by traditional and faith healers.

Doctors Look to Phone Apps to Treat Mental Illness

By Liz Paiella

Posted: 30 Oct 2013

 

Researchers  are developing mobile apps to assess and treat patients who have severe mental illness. 

Professors Call for Mobile Apps to Assess Mental Illness

By ABK

Posted: 30 Nov 2017

“Mobile technologies like smart phones can provide resources that people with mental health conditions can use, out of their environment,” Prof Ben-Zeev said.

Prof Ben-Zeev made these remarks in his presentation at the Third Public Lecture of the Ghana Psychological Association in Accra.

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UW study finds mental health apps are effective, cost less than clinic-based help

By King 5 Staff

Posted: 18 Feb 2021

The adoption of Internet-based treatments and digital mental health apps could improve patient access to treatment and help alleviate provider shortages.

Mental health: There's an App for That 

By Emily Anthes

Posted: 6 Apr 2016

 

Smartphone apps can also interact with users proactively, pinging them to ask about their moods, thoughts and overall well-being. Ben-Zeev created one called FOCUS, which is geared towards patients with schizophrenia.

 

Making Cruel Unusual

Posted: 11 Jul 2015

 

Advances in medical technology should also help to keep mental patients out of hospital. Dror Ben-Zeev  has conducted several promising trials using mobile phones to keep an eye on such people. In its most basic form this means using text messages to ask them how they are feeling and remind them to take their medication.

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Need a Therapist? There's an app for that

By Heather Kitching

Posted: 7 Sept 2018

 

"Health care professionals met at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on Thursday to look at ways of using smart technologies, such as mobile phones, in health care — particularly for patients in the remote north. The keynote speaker was a Seattle, WA psychiatry professor whose BRiTE Center."

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Facebook Live: Does Telehealth Improve Outcomes for Patients with Serious Mental Illness?

Posted: 1 Nov 2018

With the rapid expansion of digital communication tools, there is a growing sense that telehealth can improve access to care and help patients manage their health. PCORI hosted a Facebook Live session for a conversation with a PCORI-funded researcher and stakeholder partner about how telehealth may help improve outcomes for patients living with serious mental illness.

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App for serious mental illness starts clinic-training phase

Posted: 29 July 2022

 

The phone-based technology is "the closest thing to a therapist in patients’ pockets," says its project lead in psychiatry at UW Medicine.

Researchers Dig into the 'How' and 'Why' of Device Use by People with SMI

By Nick Zagorski

Posted: 3 Apr 2017

 

Smartphone apps claim to help conditions from addiction to schizophrenia, but few have been thoroughly tested.

 

How Might Technology Change Mental Health Care?

By Nick Zagorski

Posted: 27 Jan 2017

 

Research by Dror Ben-Zeev, of the University of Washington, in Seattle, demonstrated that Bluetooth radios on smartphones can be used to monitor the locations of people with schizophrenia within a hospital.

How Innovation in Mobile Health is Reshaping Mental Health

By Steven Chan

Posted: 3 Jan 2014

 

Psychiatric health conditions and behavioral issues received greater prominence at the 2013 mHealth Summit, with presentations and panels given by prominent national researchers. This focus comes at the right time, when today’s mental health system is extremely dysfunctional.

Harnessing the Power of Smartphones to Prevent Psychosis

By Joseph Blumberg

Posted: 19 Nov 2013

 

There is no known cure for schizophrenia, but Dror Ben-Zeev and his team are working on ways to help those who suffer from it. The disease is chronic, often fluctuating between psychotic episodes and periods of remission.

A Software Shrink: Apps and Wearables Could Usher in an Era of Digital Psychiatry?

By John Torous

Posted: 27 June 2017

 

Dror Ben-Zeev, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, believes that mental health professionals need to recognize and take advantage of the current state of mobile phones and other novel technologies to enhance mental health services.

Your Future Mental Health Doc will be a Smart Phone

By Aaron Turpen

Posted: 13 Jan 2014

 

You've likely seen the ads and features talking about the latest fitness app or the newest calorie-counting dieter's app for the iPhone, Android, or other smart phones. What about mental health? Is there an app for that?