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May 2017

Needed Innovation in Digital Health and Smartphone Applications for Mental Health: Transparency and Trust

Author Affiliations
  • 1Departments of Psychiatry and Division Clinical Informatics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74(5):437-438. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0262

“The success of the paradigm... is at the start largely a promise of success ... Normal science consists in the actualization of that promise...”

Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 19631(p23-24)

The promise of smartphone applications and connected technologies for mental health to advance diagnosis, augment treatment, and expand access has received much attention. Mental health disorders represent the leading cause of the loss of years of life because of disability and premature mortality and also contribute to employee absenteeism and lost productivity in economically established countries such as the United States. The potential of smartphone applications to offer new, at-your-fingertips tools and resources for mental health care is frequently cited.

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