The apps provide methods of coping with mental illness over the phone or on a computer, rather than a visit to a therapist. (WFIU/WTIU News)
A study from Indiana University shows some online therapy apps can be effective in reducing symptoms of mental illness, even in severe cases.
Online therapy apps claim to provide treatment for mental illness, often through cognitive behavioral therapy. That focuses on changing thought patterns and behaviors to alleviate symptoms of depression and similar illnesses.
Study leader and IU Professor Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces says typically, these apps provide people with information about depression and helpful coping mechanisms.
“So those ways usually involve trying to think about the world in a slightly different way, and also getting behaviorally engaged even in times in which a person’s mood might be getting kind of low,” Lorenzo-Luaces says.
Lorenzo-Luaces says previous studies already show the apps could be effective. But he says his team wanted to re-examine that data to see whether that effectiveness was overstated by focusing mainly on cases of mild mental illness.
“Or whether the apps were excluding people who had more complicated forms of psychopathology,” Lorenzo-Luaces says. “And we actually in a sense found the opposite.”
Lorenzo-Luaces says the research they analyzed included data for people experiencing a range of symptoms at different levels of severity. And it found the apps could be effective across that range.
But he says anyone considering the apps should do their research before selecting one, because there’s no regulation or certification required when creating such an app.
“There are these efforts to push these apps that have been validated by research,” Lorenzo-Luaces says. “But there are also apps out there that are more games that haven’t been well-tested.”
Lorenzo-Luaces says the therapy apps are still not as effective as some more traditional treatments, such as medication or seeing a therapist face-to-face. But he says the apps can assist people in more rural areas without the access or funding for traditional therapy methods.
