The stress and anxiety that the global COVID-19 pandemic has placed upon significant proportions of society means that mental well-being is a significant issue for everyone right now. We talk to Miri Polachek, CEO of Joy Ventures, about the ways that technology can help improve our mental health & wellbeing.
1. What are some of the best ways that technology can support people’s mental wellbeing?
Technological advances have produced more and more consumer products and services that have the potential to enhance wellbeing. Loneliness, stress, anxiety and poor-quality sleep are issues that have grown more acute across all demographics due to the coronavirus pandemic, social distancing and the subsequent economic crisis. By April, 45% of American adults said that the pandemic had negatively impacted their mental health – and the longer the crisis rages on, the greater the toll it takes.
Many have turned to smartphone apps, virtual reality experiences and digital devices to relieve stress and find comfort during this period of isolation and anxiety. Such technologies can enable people to make progress in their health journeys from the comfort of home, serving as a readily available and highly effective way to seamlessly integrate emotional wellbeing into day-to-day life.
2. How do you think attitudes are changing towards the use of technology when it comes to mental health concerns?
The pandemic has exposed an urgent need for new approaches to emotional wellbeing. New habits and norms based on socially distanced interaction and other restrictions are reshaping the economy and our way of life. And while it has become harder to access traditional therapy, digital technology has helped fill the gap.
The ever-growing number of people seeking meditation apps and wellness products is an indication of the strong consumer demand for such products. These products use different methods such as biofeedback and neurofeedback to help people achieve stress reduction, mood and sleep improvement, breath regulation and more. The aim is to counterbalance the pressures of our intense, often stressful lifestyles with consumer products that have an immediate and direct effect on the user’s emotional state.
We also see a demand for wellness across all different types of products and services. A great example of a wellness application going mainstream is the recently launched Thrive Reset Zapp, an app within Zoom that helps people manage stress before, during and after Zoom meetings, created by Zoom and Thrive Global.
3. What are some of the main benefits that technology can provide in mental health care?
Technology can not only help users identify and regulate their own emotional states during times of crisis, but also on a regular basis. Wellbeing solutions that align with people’s varied interests, hobbies and habits can enable them to improve their wellness in small moments throughout their normal day-to-day routines. By creating highly tailored experiences for users and leveraging technologies like AI, big data and biofeedback, emotional wellbeing products offer many benefits for addressing this significant public health need, both short and long term.
A prime example is Doppel, a wristband created by Empathic Technologies that produces a silent vibration on the inside of the user’s wrist that feels like the ‘lub-dub’ of a heartbeat. The slower rhythms created by the device have been shown to significantly reduce stress, while its faster rhythms increase alertness.
BfB Labs offers another great example in the field of gaming, where we are seeing increasing innovation in the area of wellbeing. They develop digital therapeutics for youth by fusing evidenced therapies with immersive digital experiences. For example, Champions of Shengha (Pro), a heart rate driven game that trains young people in diaphragmatic breathing for better emotional regulation, enabling them to self-manage stress, anxiety and frustration.
4. Where do you see technology having the biggest impact on mental health (now and in the future)?
Given growing demand, the opportunities for innovation in consumer wellbeing technology are only increasing.
Products addressing loneliness and social isolation, such as digital companions and chatbots, will gain significant traction in the coming years. Replika, for example, enables users to create a personal digital companion which “learns” through text conversations to hold expressive, empathetic conversations. Woebot is a CBT-based chatbot app that monitors and analyzes users’ moods during chats.
Another critical area is stress reduction and mood improvement. Reflect Innovation has developed a portable, interactive smart textile companion device that utilizes biofeedback to help people become aware of their emotional state and experience moments of calm. The product’s light changes color in response to signals from the user’s body, helping them monitor and regulate their emotional states.
As the industry evolves at an incredible pace, we’re also starting to see tech giants take notice and develop new solutions improving overall wellbeing – underscoring what a major opportunity this space presents.
5. Many technologies have tried to provide a support solution for mental health and have left users actually feeling less supported. How can we achieve a situation whereby patients can feel suitably supported by technological interventions?
Technology-based emotional wellbeing solutions are not meant to replace in-person therapies or other treatments. If utilized properly, these solutions have the potential to effectively supplement in-person care. This requires that they are not only enjoyable to use, but that they also have a validated effect on the user.
There are many VR/AR solutions that target the general, healthy population, creating new mindfulness and meditation experiences to help people strengthen their emotional resilience and navigate everyday challenges. Another benefit is the ability to provide highly personalized experiences, which can be tailored, even in real time, according to an individual’s needs, then tested and modified to generate effective long-term results. AR/VR-based therapeutic experiences are also inherently scalable – meaning they can make therapy accessible to more people over time, regardless of geographic location or time of day.
6. How do we prevent technology causing greater feelings of isolation for people, as we move from face-to-face care?
Face-to-face care can never be replaced by technology, but it can be supplemented and enhanced.
The coronavirus pandemic has raised awareness around technologies that can help address many of the healthcare system’s current limitations. This has been true of telehealth – not only on the individual level but on the regulatory level as well. We believe the same to be true with consumer technology products for mental wellbeing. Even before the pandemic, social isolation, stress, and anxiety, were worsening problems – but with greater use of behavioral health technologies, people will have better and more accessible options for receiving the care they need.
7. How can we balance the use of technology with the need to create meaningful experiences that provide true benefit for users/patients?
There is no doubt that the pandemic will accelerate consumer technology for mental wellbeing. These technologies should be properly vetted to ensure their effectiveness. At Joy Ventures, we fund and support companies developing products that create delightful and innovative experiences, have validated benefits for the user, and will inspire people to share the products with their friends.
