Mental Health Mobile Applications: Opportunities and Challenges

The prevalence of mental health issues throughout the world is alarmingly high, and it has only increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this truth, there continues to be a large gap between the demand for mental healthcare and the actual provision of such services. However, the rapidly expanding digital world offers a solution to this discrepancy: AI-driven mental health mobile applications. With the development of these apps, millions of patients are benefiting from the availability and affordability of many services, including but not limited to mood trackers, accurate diagnoses, assessment tools, frequent reminders, useful resources, and community building opportunities. Nevertheless, AI-driven mobile apps have their disadvantages. For instance, these apps have raised concerns regarding low patient engagement, lack of privacy and security, little evidence to support effectiveness, as well as inability to mimic human emotions. To assess the uses of mental health mobile applications, we analyzed 15 different apps, of which 5 involved AI. Through this analysis, we aim to discover patterns and inadequacies in the approaches and focuses of mental health apps. This way, we will be able to explain the opportunities and challenges of mental health apps while simultaneously offering suggestions that will help fill the mental health care gap.