Psychiatrist and clinical informaticist Dr. John Torous and mental health educator Victoria Maxwell speak on the role of online platforms and mental health apps in supporting mental health and how these technologies can be integrated into treatment plans.
Hosted by Dr. Emma Morton.
Dr. John Torous, is director of the digital psychiatry division, in the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School affiliated teaching hospital, where he also serves as a staff psychiatrist and assistant professor. He has a background in electrical engineering and computer sciences and received an undergraduate degree in the field from UC Berkeley before attending medical school at UC San Diego. He completed his psychiatry residency, fellowship in clinical informatics, and master’s degree in biomedical informatics at Harvard. Dr. Torous is active in investigating the potential of mobile mental health technologies for psychiatry and has published over 200 peer reviewed articles and 5 books chapters on the topic. He serves as editor-in-chief for JMIR Mental Health, web editor for JAMA Psychiatry, currently leads the American Psychiatric Association’s Health IT Committee, and is a senior member in IEEE.
Since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, psychosis, and anxiety, Victoria Maxwell has become one of North America’s top speakers and educators on the lived experience of mental illness and recovery, dismantling stigma and returning to work after a psychiatric disorder. As a performer, her funny, powerful messages about mental wellness create lasting change in individuals and organizations. By sharing her story of mental illness and recovery she makes the uncomfortable comfortable, the confusing understandable. The Mental Health Commission of Canada named her keynote That’s Just Crazy Talk as one of the top anti-stigma interventions in the country.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
03:25 About Dr. John Torous
05:11 About Victoria Maxwell
08:01 Are Smartphones/Apps Useful for Mental Health Symptom Monitoring?
12:22 Can Technology Be Personalized for Clinical Treatment?
16:11 What Studies Say About App Use for Bipolar Disorder Management
20:30 Are There any Existing Apps for Bipolar Disorder
26:03 Building your Digital Mental Health Toolkit
Q&A
32:57 Is Screen Time Good or Bad?
38:51 What Bipolar Disorder Symptoms Should I Track?
44:05 Should I Use Mental Health Apps In Manic Episodes?
49:00 Will AI/ChatGPT Replace Therapy?
51:50 How Can I Talk to My Treatment Team About Technology?
55:25 Are Online Bipolar Disorder Support Groups Helpful?
56:45 Resources
Resources & links
- Database of Mental Health Apps (Information) – mindapps.org
- PolarUs App for Bipolar Disorder (app to be released spring 2023) – polarus.app
- Evaluate an educational video on mental health apps (Research Study) – crestbd.ca/educational-video
- Bipolar Wellness Centre (Information) – bdwellness.com
- World Bipolar Day 2023 “Ask Me Anything”
The intersection of technology and bipolar disorder has the potential to greatly improve the lives of those living with this condition. With the increasing availability of mental health apps, wearables, and telemedicine, individuals with bipolar disorder can have access to more resources and support than ever before. Thanks for sharing this post; it’s very helpful. However, I also found this article on mental health red flags which I found very informational and worth sharing.
https://yourmentalhealthpal.com/meaning-of-mental-health-red-flags/
Due to medicine I have put on a lot of weight.
I wonder if I can follow Intermittant fasting or even OMAD (one meal a day) to lose weight.
I used both sucessfully before I was diagnosed but I want to make sure it doesn’t trigger mania or change the salt intake in a negative way.