Doctor: ‘Bad’ mental health apps better than no treatment at all

While not all health professionals buy into the validity of mobile apps for helping patients with mental health issues, at least one physician believes that using such tools, even bad ones, is preferable to receiving no care at all.

In a recent blog post at The Doctor Weighs In, Steven Chan, a resident physician in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, says that while many of his peers often are wary of recommending apps focused on mental health issues because of weak or non-existent data protection and patient privacy, in situations where a patient has no other therapeutic alternatives, apps--even those that don’t boast a “gold standard”--represent a viable option.

“Is it better to have something that isn’t the gold standard--perhaps a 'silver' or 'bronze' standard--than to have no treatment, which is an unfortunate reality for many?" Chan asks. "The gold standard is frequently out of reach, so why not turn to an imperfect app?”

Mental health diagnosis, treatment and disease management are a growing focus of mHealth developers and telemedicine services. Still, Harvard psychologist John Torous, who recently chaired the American Psychiatric Association’s task force on the evaluation of commercial smartphone apps, told Fast Company in February that may be because barriers to building such apps are lower than for other medical specialties. 

"Mental health lacks objective biomarkers, so there's more subjectivity," Torous said. "What I mean by that is that it's hard to evaluate and judge how a patient is doing."

Chan, in his post, notes that apps are just one part of the current imperfect treatments within mental health care.

“The medications don’t always work, and may have side effects," he says. "So, too, do these apps have their risks and benefits. But not just that. Books, exercise, classes, physical therapy, and talk therapy each have their own individual upsides and downsides. But all of these risks and downsides shouldn’t stop the development and adoption of these promising new technologies as long as we’re aware of the side effects."