Assistive Technologies for Anxiety

The most visible assistive technologies are those that assist physical disabilities: wheelchairs, prostheses, head pointers. But what about assistive technologies for something less visible, like anxiety disorders?

Approximately 40 million Americans above the age of 18, or 18% of the adult population, is estimated to have an anxiety disorder. Among youth, that number is even higher. And at a place like MIT, anxiety is especially prevalent; I personally have many friends who have struggled with anxiety. Ironically, the stress itself often causes people to be reluctant to seek out help with dealing with anxiety.

Anxiety may not typically be viewed as a disability. But in its impact on mental health and physical health, it can become a significant impairment.

In the unrelentingly optimistic environment of Silicon Valley, several start-ups have arisen to tackle the problem of assisting people with anxiety. One such start-up is Joyable, founded by Pete Shalek and Steve Marks, which just raised its seed round of $2.1 million this past March.

Joyable is targeting in particular Americans who suffer from severe social anxiety, of which an estimated 15 million exist today. According to Joyable, a clinical treatment for social anxiety known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has already been proven to be effective. The question then becomes how to use technology to make this therapy more widely and cheaply accessible than traditional expensive in-person therapy sessions.

A cartoon example of social anxiety

Joyable currently uses an approach composed of three methods. The first is educational, teaching users what are the causes of their anxiety. The second is based on combating negative thoughts. The third involves completing tasks of increasing difficulty, from placing a phone call to meeting up with a friend.

An example Joyable lesson

In addition, Joyable connects users with a coach, with which they can communicate online or through phone calls.

I think this problem space is particularly interesting. The high barrier to entry of seeking out therapy is often discouraging, perhaps especially so to people with social anxiety who may be resistant to even place a phone call. On the other hand, with the omnipresence of computers and mobile phones comes the largely underutilized power of constant monitoring and reminders, which traditional therapy cannot accomplish.

My vision is that everyone will have access to an on-demand, online mental health care system that works symbiotically with the traditional in-person mental health care system.

One Response to “Assistive Technologies for Anxiety”

  1. Jeff Dusek says:

    You are absolutely right that anxiety disorders are a huge and largely ignored area of disability- I have seen first hand how difficult it can be for individuals both inside MIT and out. I have also seen the use of DBT as a treatment methodology, and it seems to be somewhat helpful- assuming the individual is consistent with their sessions. I’m interested in seeing if an App would be helpful. On one hand it could make DBT treatment more accessible, but I’m worried that without an in-person component it would be too easy to not do the lessons.

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