The Western world is now facing enormous mental healthcare problems. With the number of anxiety and depression patients increasing each year, the entire system is on the brink. Quality psychotherapists are few and far between, and those who are available usually charge you an arm and a leg.
While we might think that the situation in the US is bad, it’s even worse in low- and medium-developed countries. Many experts leave these regions looking for better paid jobs. As a result, the World Health Organization predicts that these countries will have a deficit of 10 million mental health workers by 2030.
Despite everything, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. “Artificial intelligence might be the solution we’ve all been yearning for,” according to the online therapist from Ontario. This mental health expert suggests that AI will improve detection, daily support, and other related processes.
In this article, we’ll analyze the potential impact of artificial intelligence on therapeutic practices. Of course, we still have to see whether AI will fulfill its potential and whether it can patch enormous gaps in global demand.
Early Detection
As with any other health issue, early detection significantly improves the chance for positive outcomes. Unfortunately, healthcare professionals often wait for a patient to report the symptoms or for symptoms to become visible. By that time, the condition usually progresses too far, making it hard to achieve full recovery.
AI and ML are able to tackle this problem through advanced data analysis. Artificial intelligence can analyze a person’s behavior, specifically their speech patterns, behavior, and expressions, to determine whether we’re dealing with a healthy, stable individual.
Among other things, psychotherapists rely on NLP (Natural Language Processing) to analyze textual and verbal conversations. Depending on how people express themselves, AI can detect repeating negative attitudes. Facial recognition tech works in a similar way, noticing signs of extreme stress in an individual.
Virtual Care
Given the high demand for mental health experts and the profession’s nature, many psychotherapists feel as if they’re being pulled in several directions. One of the ways to address this problem is by hiring more experts and introducing them into the healthcare system. The second solution is to use AI.
Chatbots are the first line of defense for overworked psychotherapists. Instead of having to answer all these repetitive questions, mental professionals can let robots do all their dirty work. The great thing about chatbots is that they provide instantaneous yet cheap support for critical patients.
Another solution comes in the form of virtual therapists. They are the advanced AI solution that uses the best features of chatbots and builds upon them. The AI programs are able to conduct meaningful conversations and even provide coping strategies by analyzing patients’ body language and speech.
Predictive Analytics
One of AI’s biggest advantages is the fact that it can tap into large databases and extrapolate insights from available data. Among others, it can analyze patients’ therapy progress, medical history, hereditary risks, behavioral patterns, and even socioeconomic factors to predict the chance of mental condition.
AI is much quicker than the human counterpart; it doesn’t leave anything to chance, nor does it omit any information. This helps the human doctor assess the odds of relapse or symptom worsening. AI significantly increases treatment accuracy and increases the odds of full recovery.
For example, AI’s predictive function can spot hard-to-notice patterns that the human eye might’ve missed. The machines take into account behavior during sessions and improving/worsening attitudes. It flags sudden changes, such as missed appointments and depressive talk, and prompts the doctor to react.
Customized Plans
The reason why many treatment plans don’t work is that they’re not adapted to a person’s case and preferences. While the standardized approach serves as a good catch-all, it provides subpar results in numerous cases.
AI attacks the traditional way of thinking and creates plans according to a patient’s character, medical condition, secondary ailments, and current treatment’s progress. Artificial intelligence is able to harvest a large quantity of data directly from the patient, unbeknownst to them.
As you try different treatment approaches, AI is able to assess, with pinpoint precision, how the individual reacts to each one of them. That way, the doctor is able to eliminate tactics that provide limited results while doubling down on things that work.
We also have to mention that artificial intelligence is nothing more than a support to the psychotherapist in charge. Despite all its benefits, the machines don’t have the experience that would help them adjust in some instances. Only by combining the two can we achieve superb results in 90% of cases.
Teletherapy Platforms
Virtual sessions have become a golden standard since the COVID-19 days. Like many other medical experts, psychotherapists capitalized on this new technology to make treatments much safer but also efficient. With the introduction of specialized AI-driven platforms, we can go a step further.
For example, modern telettherapy platforms can generate instant transcripts during sessions and create short clips outlining the most important bits. The better software is also able to perform complete sentiment analysis, which is vital for modifying the approach down the line.
However, expensive systems go way beyond simple text editing and generation. They’re able to pinpoint negative sentiments, such as signs of anger, frustration, and avoidance. Some of these might not be as obvious to psychotherapists.
AI is vital for follow-ups and other forms of engagement. It sends automated messages to a person, reminding them to show up for the upcoming session. AI might provide continuous care by tracking their mood during the day through an app.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence gives us some very interesting options. It will likely help us reduce the impact of worker deficit, as it will allow doctors to treat more patients during a day. Furthermore, it will have a major effect on the quality of care and patient satisfaction rates through better monitoring and response.
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