Folks with depression who got therapy via text or voice messages fared just as well as those who got weekly video-based telemedicine sessions with a therapist, a new trial has found.
The findings “suggest that psychotherapy delivered via text messages may be a viable alternative to face-to-face or videoconferencing delivery and may allow for more immediate on-demand care,” in a time when it’s often tough for people to access mental health care, the study authors wrote.
Here’s the interesting point:
Half of the patients received weekly standard videoconference sessions with a therapist for 30 to 45 minutes.
The other half received psychotherapy delivered via voice or text messages, where patients could interact with the therapist whenever and how often they wanted.
So it’s not text Vs in-person. It’s also “whenever and how often they wanted” How tf do therapists do that? Texting 24/7 with dozens of people?
Also the study had 215 people. So 100+ per group. Not that big.
I think this study rather shows how important in-person therapy is. Since it shows that texting or video calls are comparably (non-)effective
Actually I suspect this can actually be MORE effective than in-person therapy, at least in one specific way. A critical part of a complete Dialectal Behavior Therapy Program is telephone coaching (there are some limits, usually the therapist won’t pick up calls overnight or during the day you might have to leave a message and get called back within an hour or two). This is an important component because the skills realistically have to be learned in the environment in which they’re actually needed instead of just in the therapist’s office. DBT is one of the best and most effective therapies for a reason and bringing the therapy into your home and daily life is a big part of that. Individual and groups are part of it too though.
That means that neural-net/deep-learning therapist if done properly is a real potential.
And that means that we may finally hae a psychological equivalent to a “cane” or “wheelchair”, soon, to help us when we’re too exhausted to help ourselves, or when we need another’s help, & there is no other, except for money which we don’t have…
( no, I’m not saying that any for-profit business would do it properly.
I AM saying it’s now possible. : )
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Doing it properly is the important part. Without curation, RAG, and/or very strict quality control, you’re gonna have a bad time. Like those who got a ChatGPT bot advising them how to best contribute to their eating disorders.
Yeah it’s theoretically possible the same way cold fusion is theoretically possible
Remember AT&T logs all of your texts and sends them to data warehouses for reasons. I hope they do this with more privacy in mind.
I’ve always hoped to be able to utilise this kinda model. If anything it would bolster my confidence and build rapport… so I would feel more comfortable going in person. Thanks for posting this.
Progressive Democrats: We need to fix our broken healthcare system.
Corporate Democrats: Here, have an AI therapist.
