What about irc.freenode.net ##psychology chan for example (as a last resort before resorting to a therapy chatbot)
A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
51–60 of 73 posts
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#52> So Woebot has moved away from Facebook and launched as a stand-alone app that only requires a first name to sign up; Darcy described the app as anonymous.
Err, so why do I have to register my phone number before I can do anything with the app?
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#53> "Woebot has moved away from Facebook and launched as a stand-alone app that only requires a first name to sign up; ... Users can also ask Woebot to delete their account history, wiping all conversations. ... Even when people email us, we're like, 'We don't know who you are!' That was a really clear decision from the outset."
So it sounds like they're doing the right thing. They're helping people with mental health issues so I want to believe good privacy practices will continue.
Time will tell. Until then, this sounds like a wonderful project.
[UPDATE] Okay, I just tried the app. The first thing it asks for is your name. Fine. Pseudonym, no problem. The second request is, "I need to send you a code. What's your phone number?"
So much for "we don't know who you are". >:
[SOLUTION/PSA] Use a service like Twilio for signup. For $1 you can pull a random SMS-compatible phone number out of a pool, get your signup code from the Twilio web console, and then release the phone number. Not anonymous but obscured identity, at least.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#54The 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…
Some anecdotal account, if I may. I got out of depression by going through a purely online cognitive behavioural therapy programme, over 10 years ago. Been OK since.
I believe that depression and anxiety may need more unbiased research for the best solutions to be found. Between therapists and pharmaceuticals, there's a lot of vested interest in the status quo.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 some…
I agree with you. Although it seems intuitive that only a human could assist with complex mental issues, the mind is very strange and susceptible to these hacks. There's no reason small children should feel comforted by a stuffed animal, but they do, and it can provide an experience very much like human contact for them. I went through several bouts of extreme depression, and I might only be alive because I discovere…
The money isn't wasted if it gives you joy when you most need it.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#56Ok, so it's an app. An iPhone one. I would love to try it out (I could use some CBT), but I don't have an iPhone. Is there an Android version? (Edit: no, coming soon.) Or a web one? (Edit: the messenger bot seems up, assuming https://woebot.io/ is the official site.)
Also, going through comments, it seems to be an Eliza-like chatbot. I.e. not very complicated on algorithmic front. I wonder, what it would take to have it instead of M-x doctor in my Emacs?
EDIT: trying out the Messenger bot. God, I'm already in love with the humour and the flow. Nicely done!
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with you. Although it seems intuitive that only a human could assist with complex mental issues, the mind is very strange and susceptible to these hacks. There's no reason small children should feel comforted by a stuffed animal, but they do, and it can provide an experience very much like human contact for them. I went through several bouts of extreme depression, and I might only be alive because I discovere…
I am not a psychologist but to me it seems like you have anger issues perhaps and you direct that to your plates which you can destroy? Anger always finds a target, and when you don't allow yourself to be angry at someone or something the target becomes yourself and (mostly mental) illness results.
>I am not a psychologist
Clearly.
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#58The 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…
>The notion that the impact of talk therapy comes purely from the intellectual discourse seems to me severely misguided. The evidence suggests otherwise. Internet-based CBT does not seem to be markedly inferior to face-to-face CBT, which is the current gold-standard talk therapy. We really don't have any evidence that the human contact element of psychotherapy is integral or even significant to the effectiveness of t…
The question here may not be face to face vs remotely, but a person vs a rudimentary AI. Can one feel acceptance and support from a chatbot that has no sense of self?
Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#59> "Woebot has moved away from Facebook and launched as a stand-alone app that only requires a first name to sign up; ... Users can also ask Woebot to delete their account history, wiping all conversations. ... Even when people email us, we're like, 'We don't know who you are!' That was a really clear decision from the outset." So it sounds like they're doing the right thing. They're helping people with mental health…
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Re: A therapy chatbot and app for depression and anxiety
#60> 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…
It's also worth noting that the creator, Joseph Weizenbaum, was shocked that the software was suggested as a replacement for real psychiatrists - so history repeating itself?
Quote from your wiki-source:
> Lay responses to ELIZA were disturbing to Weizenbaum and motivated him to write his book Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, in which he explains the limits of computers, as he wants to make clear in people's minds his opinion that the anthropomorphic views of computers are just a reduction of the human being and any life form for that matter. [...]