According to the World Health Organization, mental illness affects one in four people. The numbers show how serious the problem is and that anyone can fall victim to psychological problems such as depression or anxiety.
That's why a startup called Mindstrong Health from Palo Alto, California, is trying to help people examine their psyche in the smartest way possible – by creating a smartphone!
It doesn't matter who we are or where we are from, smartphones have become a common part of everyday life for most people around the world. And now they can be used to monitor people's emotional health through usage analysis.
Upon installation, the Mindstrong app monitors the user's interaction with their phone through typing speed, scrolling, and screen taps while using other apps, and then this pattern is analyzed.
For example, memory problems may be related to how fast you type, the types of errors you make while typing, the frequency of deleting characters, and scrolling speed.
But first of all, Mindstrong determines your basic behavior, learning how you use your device and combining various parameters to form general characteristics.
To ensure that the collected data remains secure, it is encrypted and analyzed remotely using machine learning algorithms. The final results and analysis are then shared with patients and mental health professionals.
Mindstrong has already tested the app in controlled clinical sessions. The app is now available for both iOS and Android devices.
