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This is how data science is transforming the mental health sector
Around 450 million people suffer from some of the other kinds of mental illness. And the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the amount of stress and anxiety caused by the constant threat to personal and physical well-being. The feeling of isolation due to quarantine has hugely impacted many people leading to depression. Throughout this pandemic, statistics show an alarming increase in the number of people being affected by mental health issues. The answer to deal with foolproof methods to deal with these pressing issues lies in Data Science and its techniques.
Big data can give researchers and health professionals insights into patterns that are typically difficult to detect. By enabling early diagnosis, consumer-centric, preventive care, and personalized approaches aims to facilitate better clinical outcomes. Data science techniques can unlock clinically relevant information that is hidden in the data which can assist clinical decision making. Let’s see how mental health experts are using data science in this article.
Sorting
One of the major challenges for mental health is the lack of definitive tests, categorization, and dependency on principles of trial and error. Individual differences and overlapping symptoms can often lead to delayed or sometimes even incorrect diagnoses. But, with the help of data science we can identify patterns that are otherwise hard to detect. The signs, symptoms, and causes can be detected and diagnosed with an accurate diagnosis. This is how data science is helping mental health researchers.
Research
It takes a lot of attempts before an individual finds an antidepressant that better works for him or her. Data science and big data can help in this process to a great extent. Data science is helping mental health researchers in various ways. The research showed that symptoms of depression such as loss of interest, diminished activity, and an ability to make decisions predicted a poor outcome of the antidepressant treatment. This great piece of knowledge can be valuable to mental health experts.
Estimations
Data science can allow researchers to estimate the effects that mental illness has had and will have on global populations. When the effects are quantified and supported by data, the mental health professionals can provide a stronger case for much-needed resources to be allocated to mental health research and treatment accessibility. This is how data science is helping mental health researchers.
Identify Suicidal Tendency
NLP or Natural Language Processing is used to predict the suicidal tendency and psychiatric symptoms beforehand itself. Crisis counseling hotlines use ML to help identify callers who are at high risk of doing self-harm during the communication. And suicide attempts can also be anticipated using Electronic Health Records, thereby drastically reducing suicide rates. This is how data science is helping mental health researchers. Data Science and ML tools can aid in a myriad of projects ranging from understanding suicide warning signs in children, recommending which treatments will work for which people as well as providing an understanding of genetics to inform treatments for schizophrenia and increase the life expectancy of those affected by schizophrenia.
Treatment of mental health
Researchers from Penn Medicine have leveraged machine learning techniques to identify the size and shape of the brain networks in children, leading to an improved understanding and to provide more personalized treatment of mental health conditions. The MRI scans can also predict antidepressant treatment outcomes in major depressive disorders. Research showed that patients, who are often embarrassed to reveal problems to a therapist they’ve never met before, let down their guard with AI-powered tools. This coupled with lower costs helps AI tools in diagnosis, speedy treatment, and improving clinical outcomes. This is how data science is helping mental health researchers.
Around 450 million people suffer from some of the other kinds of mental illness. And the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the amount of stress and anxiety caused by the constant threat to personal and physical well-being. Throughout this pandemic, statistics show an alarming increase in the number of people being affected by mental health issues. The answer to deal with foolproof methods to deal with these pressing issues lies in Data Science. Know more about how data science is adding value in the healthcare sector in this article.