Computerized Identification of Mental State for Mental Health Care

Abstract

Introduction

Sebastian, a 30-year-old man, was just diagnosed with depression and is undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions on a weekly basis. As he goes about his daily routine, he wears a gadget that measures his physiological activity. His therapist enters his physiological data for the week into a computer software at the start of each CBT session. The computer compiles Sebastian's levels of happy and negative affect and pinpoints the times when these reactions peaked. The therapist utilizes this information to track Sebastian's development and dynamically customize the therapy, for as by asking Sebastian to recollect experiences that correlate to some of the emotion peaks.