The newest graduate student has developed a computer program that analyzes thought records using natural language processing and recognizes underlying patterns. In this way, people with depressive symptoms can get better and quicker insight into negative thoughts. This approach is similar to the cognitive therapy that many psychologists offer in their doctor’s office. Burger’s will with this one Research contribute to the use of AI technology in the development of software for the prevention and treatment of (early) depression.
Digitization in mental health care
Digitization is now happening at an ever-faster pace in mental health care, just like the rest of health care. For example, more and more checks and (outpatient) conversations are taking place remotely, by telephone or via video calls. Health insurer VGZ and mental health professionals, for example, saw in 2021 that the number of online therapeutic conversations have increased by almost a third in the Netherlands. With the new computer program that analyzes thoughts, people with depressive symptoms could even be partially cured by a “robot psychologist” in the future.
Prevention and treatment of depression
In any case, the analysis of thoughts using artificial intelligence is certainly an interesting and innovative treatment option. Burger says: “Our thoughts determine how we feel and behave. Understanding some mindsets is an important part of preventing and treating depression. I have researched how AI can support people with symptoms of depression. This gives people with depressive symptoms a better and quicker insight into negative thoughts.”
The computer program helps with depression
Research shows that AI is very effective at identifying core thoughts of depressed people, such as “I’m not competent” or “I’m not loved.” The AI has been trained to recognize the underlying thoughts of short, structured texts. For example, consider the combination “I’m not loved” with the central idea “My boyfriend doesn’t like me because he ignores me when I greet him enthusiastically.” Understanding these unhelpful thoughts is a first step in cognitive therapy. Only when someone recognizes them can they eventually be replaced by healthier thoughts. Unfortunately, depressed people are often unable to identify these unnecessary thoughts, but artificial intelligence could therefore support this.
Interactive computer systems
According to the researcher, AI has great potential to support people with mental health issues. “However, interactivity between users and depression treatment computer systems has been limited to date. Franziska Burger: “As a person you want the system to understand your content. With our research we have now taken a step in that direction. We have seen that people were very capable of discovering their core thoughts with a smart chat program.
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