Mental Health Tech Insider: Where Technology Meets Mental Health

Welcome to the fifth issue of Mental Health Tech Insider —your compass for navigating the intersection of technology and mental health. Whether you’re an investor, entrepreneur, advisor, or simply fascinated by the industry’s evolution, this newsletter is designed for you.

In this issue:

• Facial Emotion Recognition: Applications in mental health tech.
• Investment Trends: The latest in behavioral health.
• Happiness and $$$: Why do we feel happier when spending on others?

Love, Maria

Technologies Transforming Mental Health

Facial Emotion Recognition (FER) is a groundbreaking technology that utilizes computer vision and AI to read human emotions based on facial expressions. Here's how it works:

Face Detection: It begins with spotting and isolating faces in images or videos, using head pose estimation to zero in on the face.

Landmark Extraction: The system then pinpoints key facial features like eyes, eyebrows, mouth corners, and the nose tip.

Expression Classification: Next, it examines how these features relate to one another and notes texture and appearance changes.

Machine Learning Magic: CNNs (Convolutional Neural Networks) map these facial features to specific emotional states.

Emotion Output: Finally, a visual display of expressions, emotion labels (like happy or sad), and emotion probabilities is generated.

FER systems are continually improving. CNNs are preferred because they can automatically learn from raw pixel data, while RNNs (Recurrent Neural Networks), are used for video-based FER to capture the flow of expressions over time. Combining FER with voice, text analysis, or physiological data increases accuracy even further. In the mental health tech space, FER is mostly used for:

Diagnosis, Assessment and Early Detection: FER helps identify conditions like depression or anxiety by analyzing facial expressions and spotting mental health issues early by noticing subtle changes in expressions.

Real-time Emotion Tracking and Remote Care: Monitoring patients' emotional states during therapy provides insights for healthcare professionals, allowing for adjustments, progress monitoring, and more effective sessions. It also facilitates easier patient assessment in remote telehealth settings.

To sum up, FER technology is advancing rapidly and being widely implemented, unlocking more accurate and impactful treatments. However, there is still work to be done in improving accuracy, real-time performance, and addressing ethical and privacy considerations.

Market Trends

The mental health tech investment landscape is booming , especially post-COVID-19. In 2020, U.S. mental health spending was around $280 billion and has been rising since, driven by the adoption of telehealth platforms. More than one-fifth of American adults now receive mental health treatment annually, with the majority engaging in one-on-one therapy. Key trends driving investment:

• Mental health care covered by insurance and affordable care options.
• Matching patients with therapists within their insurance networks.
• Telehealth services and AI-enabled platforms.
• Targeted care for specific groups such as teenagers and the elderly.

Looking ahead and moving beyond the model of 1:1 therapy, we see more startups developing new and promising technologies and improving existing ones. This brings us closer to the future of personalized, predictive, and preventive mental health solutions.

From Science to Behavior

A review article reaffirms the happiness benefits of prosocial spending, confirming that spending money on others can lead to greater happiness compared to spending on oneself. These findings were consistent across different demographic groups, cultures, and age groups, though the relationship appears to be stronger for older adults. We feel happier when we:

• Freely choosing to give.
• See the difference our generosity has made.
• Promote a sense of social connection to the recipient or cause we support.
• Feel connected to those being helped.?

P.S. Movie Recommendation: Inside Out 2

Though not directly related to tech, it’s a fantastic movie that makes complex mental health concepts accessible to a wide audience. By introducing anxiety as a natural part of life that helps alert us to potential threats and providing a realistic visualization of panic attacks, Inside Out 2 improves understanding of teenage anxiety and emotional development and helps start conversations about mental health.

In a world full of tech, stay human, see human,

Maria

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About the author:

I am Dr. Maria Blekher, a behavioral scientist, growth strategist, and investor with a robust background in consumer behavior and market strategies. I hold a PhD from Ben Gurion University and a postdoc at NYU, leading to my role as the founding director of the YU Innovation Lab in the heart of the NYC tech ecosystem. My expertise centers on bridging market entry gaps for startups, aligning go-to-market strategies with profound consumer behavior insights and market dynamics, and cultivating strategic partnerships. Driven by a mission to make an impact and enhance the human experience through technological innovation, my partner Avi Yaron and I are launching Serendipity Impact VC —investing in early-stage, disruptive neuro and mental health startups.