4 Trends in Mental Healthcare Tech to Watch in 2021 & Beyond

If there is any silver lining to COVID-19, it’s that the technology used to treat mental health has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past nine months. Accelerated by social distancing requirements and other stresses of a global pandemic, tech companies have made tremendous strides in developing telehealth platforms, wearable tech, and mental health tracing techniques to help the public cope.

Many pandemic-oriented solutions — like social distancing and face masks — will eventually become a thing of the past. But digital therapy and other mental health innovations are likely here to stay. These tools and platforms are both highly convenient and tech-enriched, improving patient support and outcomes. Here are four trends in mental tech healthcare we expect to persist and flourish in 2021 and beyond.

1. Digital therapy and telehealth

Virtual therapy was on the rise before the pandemic, but the surge in requests for therapy as well as social distancing measures accelerated the adoption of telehealth platforms. Many traditional providers offered teletherapy in 2020 out of necessity, switching to platforms like Zoom to provide regular sessions with old and new patients.

Moving forward, we expect digital therapy to stay post-pandemic — and evolve even further. Apps like Happify, MoodTools, and Ellipsis offer science-backed resources for anyone dealing with mental health issues, including diagnostic tools that can tell a user when it’s time to find professional help. Ellipsis, for example, can analyze a patient’s voice and speech patterns for warning signs of emotional distress.

The next iteration of digital therapy will include many different modalities: real-time symptom tracking, app usage, and AI-informed signals. Skyler Health is one such platform that uses AI to solve complex challenges, like COVID-induced stress or opioid or benzo tapering. The technology that underpins these approaches to digital therapy makes supporting mental health both more convenient and more effective.

2. The rise of digital support groups

As digital therapy becomes more mainstream, new interest groups can access support previously unavailable to them in a traditional therapy setting. Take firefighters, for instance. The nature of their work schedule — shifts at odd hours, frequently on call — makes it difficult to schedule and attend an in-office therapy appointment. They also face unique stressors in their work. Remote therapy makes therapy both more convenient and more personalized. Teletherapy is destigmatized seeking help online — leading to the rise of highly-niche digital support groups.

In addition to social media groups, more formal platforms have sprung up to support online mental health support. Sites like the Big White Wall host internet support groups in which users remain anonymous. “It offers educational resources and courses led by mental health professionals. It also offers peer encouragement through virtual conversations. ‘Talkabouts,’ they’re called,” reported The Washington Post.

Peanut is another example: it’s an app that connects expectant and new moms to provide support for postpartum depression and other challenges that come with motherhood. Skyler Health offers mental health tele-therapy targeted to specific populations as well. The proliferation of digital niche groups points to a trend with staying power beyond the pandemic.

3. Wearables to track mental health

Wearables have historically focused on tracking physical symptoms — things like heart rate, sleep patterns, and exercise. Now, more tech wearables are being deployed to collect data on mental health.

Alphabet recently unveiled a three-year-old moonshot project called “Project Amber,” a research initiative to find a more objective way to monitor symptoms of depression. Project Amber uses a technology called electroencephalography, or EEG, which measures patterns of electrical activity in the brain using hardware that resembles “a multicolored swim cap.” The tool can be used to monitor a patient’s mental health between therapy visits and to anticipate a future episode of depression.

“Smart headbands” are also entering the market to help patients meditate, a practice which has been linked to improved mental health. Wearables such as Muse S, BrainLink Pro, and NeoRhythm guide users through sessions and track progress over time. While many of these innovations are still experimental, expect to see more mainstream rollouts of this kind in 2021 and beyond.

4. Virtual mental health “tracing”

Contact-tracing for COVID exposures has been much discussed over the last nine months, but its usefulness as a paradigm goes beyond the pandemic. Researchers are already using apps, social media, and other online activities to “trace” mental health symptoms and potential triggers that may require professional help.

Evidence shows that technology can both identify patients who might be experiencing depression, as well as deliver therapy as needed. A pioneering study on depression several years ago, the BRIGHTEN study used a smartphone app to simultaneously conduct a research trial and to deliver treatment interventions. “The research team used technology to recruit, screen, enroll, treat, and assess participants. BRIGHTEN was especially exciting because the study showed that technology can be an efficient way to pilot test promising new treatments, and that those treatments need to be engaging,” reported NIMH in September 2019.

Researchers are also analyzing social media updates to measure mental health fluctuations in times of crisis. A study by MIT and Harvard used machine learning to analyze the text of more than 800,000 Reddit posts. This revealed changes in the tone and content of language during the first wave of the pandemic, from January to April of 2020. Conversations around mental health, including an overall increase in discussion about anxiety and suicide, measurably increased.

The implications of both these studies are clear: social media and smartphone apps can be used proactively and preventatively to recommend mental health therapy and telehealth solutions to those who may urgently need it.

Mental health tech solutions are opening new opportunities for health care providers and the public to connect and tackle symptoms of depression, anxiety, substance dependency, and more. Many of the tools and approaches introduced during the pandemic will have staying power for years to come.