Anyone else find this ironic, given the potential link [1] between screen/device use and depression?
[1] https://qz.com/1190151/why-am-i-unhappy-a-new-study-explains...
A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
11–20 of 73 posts
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#12The notion that the impact of talk therapy comes purely from the intellectual discourse seems to me severely misguided. It is the experience of being with the other person and their acceptance of your pain that does so much of the work. To reduce it to the intellect divorced from all physicality seems like a travesty that will only alleviate symptoms experienced while alone, and will do nothing to reacclimate you to being open and comfortable in the presence of others.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#13> The students were split into two groups — one was assigned to chat with Woebot over two weeks, while the other was directed to read an e-book about depression. Unlike the students in the e-book group, those using Woebot said they saw a significant reduction in their depressive symptoms. It sounds interesting. It also reminds me of ELIZA[1] a chat bot designed in the 60s to demonstrate the superficiality of human co…
Eliza was awesome. I actually built a variation for Study Swami- and threw in a little CBT for good measure. I intended to update it for more scholarly issues (planning projects, studying certain types of content) but instructors/tutors pushed back a bit worried that it's too distracting for the students.
EDIT: I later learned that I'm friends with Weizenbaum's grand-niece (or something like that).
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#14The notion that the impact of talk therapy comes purely from the intellectual discourse seems to me severely misguided. It is the experience of being with the other person and their acceptance of your pain that does so much of the work. To reduce it to the intellect divorced from all physicality seems like a travesty that will only alleviate symptoms experienced while alone, and will do nothing to reacclimate you to…
I have used Woebot to escape the grasp of depression. Multiple life challenges occurred at the same time (health issues, death, divorce, restructuration, etc...).
Woebot helped me change thought patterns that kept me from getting help and it could do so at any time of the day or night. When going to see your counsellor is too hard Woebot is only a ping away and is free.
Now not to discount your point that indeed sometimes you need words of encouragement or humans to understand complex situations but there is room for both in the grand scheme of things.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#15The notion that the impact of talk therapy comes purely from the intellectual discourse seems to me severely misguided. It is the experience of being with the other person and their acceptance of your pain that does so much of the work. To reduce it to the intellect divorced from all physicality seems like a travesty that will only alleviate symptoms experienced while alone, and will do nothing to reacclimate you to…
I agree, and it also helps that most clinical psychologists try to get you to examine your own life and see what is going wrong in it to cause you to feel depressed or show you how to face the things that make you anxious more appropriately.
That's not to say anxiety and depression are always lifestyle issues, for many people there is physiological cause that can be treated with medication, but a lot of psychological problems are really life problems.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#16The efficacy of drugs, specifically Lexapro, on my anxiety cannot be understated. I had attempted lots of different "mindfulness" techniques and other types of talk therapy. They seemed like they worked, sorta, at the time. But being on Lexapro is so night and day different that it makes all those other attempts clearly an exercise in futility. Like with everything, if you can't tell it's working, it's not working. S…
This! I parrot this on every thread that is remotely relevant. Depression and anxiety are complex problems that are incredibly personal (in the sense that they are unique to the individual). More so than most other disorders. Ergo: 1) No off the shelf solution like popping an ibuprofen for body aches 2) what works for others may not work for you 3) one needs to try multiple solutions 4) and most important, have a pro…
On the other hand, having lived most of my life in varying states of depression and having seen doctors when it was at its worst and I was diagnosed with major clinical depression, it is my considered opinion that treating depression is one of those things that doctors are really crap at. The problem seems to me to be that they have a high confidence in a model that isn't very good.
Which isn't to say that drugs can't help, just that they're very much treating the symptoms and not at all the underlying cause.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#17I would say that therapy chatbots (including ELIZA) would be able to work at least the same as Journaling what you do every day. See https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?Con...
If you make it more convenient to do this or encourage people to participate then having a nice UI would probably work wonders. Also, if the user believes that the system on the other end is human enough I think you could see better results.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#18> The students were split into two groups — one was assigned to chat with Woebot over two weeks, while the other was directed to read an e-book about depression. Unlike the students in the e-book group, those using Woebot said they saw a significant reduction in their depressive symptoms. It sounds interesting. It also reminds me of ELIZA[1] a chat bot designed in the 60s to demonstrate the superficiality of human co…
I wish there were a control group - it could very well be that reading an e-book about depression can cause a regression in depressive symptoms.
They do but the relief can be short lived. A therapist is basically an expert who can put into practice what you need to do to feel less depressed.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#19[deleted]
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#20> The students were split into two groups — one was assigned to chat with Woebot over two weeks, while the other was directed to read an e-book about depression. Unlike the students in the e-book group, those using Woebot said they saw a significant reduction in their depressive symptoms. It sounds interesting. It also reminds me of ELIZA[1] a chat bot designed in the 60s to demonstrate the superficiality of human co…
Clearly you haven’t tried Woebot. There is no free form dialog. It’s basically a scripted book plus videos that uses the UI of chat but gives you no freedom of expression.