Lessons Learned or Forgotten? Future Direction of Global Digital Mental Health Care

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was an “eye opener” when it comes to limitations of the (mental) health systems that we have known for decades. It has impacted lives globally, posing unique challenges to mental health services exposing vulnerability and limitations within these systems. During the course of the pandemic, digital mental health (DMH) care have served a critical role in psychiatric care. It is important to understand and remember the lessons learned about DMH care and their implications for global mental health systems both during and after the pandemic. There are significant regulatory, policy, and evaluation challenges for global DMH impacting patients, clinicians, health systems, and decision-makers. These include complex regulatory issues, difficulties of providing care across boundaries, and keeping pace with the implementation of new technologies in behavioral health. The collaborative development of global standards along with policies, appropriate regulations, and developing new models of research and development opens the possibility of improved access to care across national boundaries.