Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Psychological and Mental Health Promotion: An Opinion Piece

Kelechi Elizabeth Oladimeji; Athini Nyatela; Siphamandla Gumede; Depika Dwarka; Samanta Tresha Lalla-Edward

doi:10.25159/2958-3918/14548

Authors

Kelechi Elizabeth Oladimeji Walter Sisulu University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0246-5595
Athini Nyatela University of the Witwatersrand
Siphamandla Gumede University of the Witwatersrand
Depika Dwarka University of the Witwatersrand
Samanta Tresha Lalla-Edward University of the Witwatersrand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2958-3918/14548

Keywords:

Mental health, artificial intelligence (AI), Psychology, Mental health promotion, Africa

Abstract

The digital revolution has made integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the medical sector easier. AI is currently being used to speed up the detection of diseases in their early stages, facilitate the delineation and understanding of disease variations, and improve optimised treatment protocols. Psychology is no exception, as new role players have emerged, most notably the incorporation of AI into both psychological research and clinical practice. However, there is an apparent unease with AI as a technological breakthrough advancing science in mental health, such as data privacy, national guidelines on the use of AI, successful integration of users into the clinical setting and empathy, compared to human psychologists. Regardless, AI functions in psychology are gradually snowballing. We present an opinion on the impact of AI on improving mental health based on the exploration of available published evidence. We highlight the potential of AI in improving mental health care through mental health disorder detection, diagnosis, treatment, and public health education. The article also discusses the potential challenges and future directions, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and developing novel AI-based approaches to improve mental health outcomes.

References

Alwashmi, M. F. (2020). The Use of Digital Health in the Detection and Management of COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082906 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082906

Batada A, & Solano R. L. (2019, 28 June 2019). Saving minds: Harnessing technology to improve access to mental health services. World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks. https://blogs.worldbank.org/health/saving-minds-harnessing-technology-improve-access-mental-health-services. https://doi.org/10.1596/31766 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1596/31766

Boucher, E. M., Harake, N. R., Ward, H. E., Stoeckl, S. E., Vargas, J., Minkel, J., Parks, A. C., & Zilca, R. (2021). Artificially intelligent chatbots in digital mental health interventions: a review. Expert Review of Medical Devices, 18(sup1), 37–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/17434440.2021.2013200 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17434440.2021.2013200

Cao, J. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0074428 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0074428

Caplan, S. (2019). Intersection of cultural and religious beliefs about mental health: Latinos in the faith-based setting. Hispanic Health Care International, 17(1), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540415319828265 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1540415319828265

Carman, M., & Rosman, B. (2023). Applying a principle of explicability to AI research in Africa: should we do it? In A. D. Attoe, S. S. Temitope, V. Nweke, J. Umezurike, & J. O. Chimakonam (Eds.), Conversations on African Philosophy of Mind, Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence. Springer International Publishing. (pp. 183–201). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36163-0_13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36163-0_13

Chang, M. C., Chen, P. F., Lee, T. H., Lin, C. C., Chiang, K. T., Tsai, M. F., Kuo, H. F., & Lung, F. W. (2021). The effect of religion on psychological resilience in healthcare workers during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic [original research]. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628894 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628894

Chatmon, B. N. (2020). Males and mental health stigma. American Journal of Men's Health, 14(4), 1557988320949322. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988320949322 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988320949322

Cordova, D., Bauermeister, J. A., Fessler, K., Delva, J., Nelson, A., Nurenberg, R., Mendoza Lua, F., Alers-Rojas, F., & Salas-Wright, C. P. (2015). A community-engaged approach to developing an MHealth HIV/STI and drug abuse preventive intervention for primary care: a qualitative study. JMIR mHealth uHealth, 3(4), e106. https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.4620 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.4620

Fiske, A., Henningsen, P., & Buyx, A. (2019). Your robot therapist will see you now: Ethical implications of embodied artificial intelligence in psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(5), e13216. https://doi.org/10.2196/13216 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/13216

Freeman, M. (2022). The World Mental Health Report: transforming mental health for all. World Psychiatry, 21(3), 391–392. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21018

Haque, M. D. R., & Rubya, S. (2023). An overview of Chatbot-Based mobile mental health apps: insights from app description and user reviews. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 11, e44838. https://doi.org/10.2196/44838 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/44838

Javed, A., Lee, C., Zakaria, H., Buenaventura, R. D., Cetkovich-Bakmas, M., Duailibi, K., Ng, B., Ramy, H., Saha, G., Arifeen, S., Elorza, P. M., Ratnasingham, P., & Azeem, M. W. (2021). Reducing the stigma of mental health disorders with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 58, 102601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102601 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102601

Lee, E. E., Torous, J., De Choudhury, M., Depp, C. A., Graham, S. A., Kim, H. C., Paulus, M. P., Krystal, J. H., & Jeste, D. V. (2021). Artificial intelligence for Mental health care: clinical applications, barriers, facilitators, and artificial wisdom. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 6(9), 856–864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.02.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.02.001

Li, F., Gu, L., & Xu, H. (2022). The mining method of ideological and political elements in university public mental health courses based on artificial intelligence technology. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2022, 2829974. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/2829974 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/2829974

Lovejoy, C. A. (2019). Technology and mental health: The role of artificial intelligence. European Psychiatry, 55, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.08.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.08.004

Lu, Y. (2022). The influence of public mental health based on artificial intelligence technology on the teaching effect of business administration major. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2022, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5353889 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5353889

McGuire, M., de Waal, A., Karellis, A., Janssen, R., Engel, N., Sampath, R., Carmona, S., Zwerling, A. A., Suarez, M. F., & Pai, N. P. (2021). HIV self-testing with digital supports as the new paradigm: A systematic review of global evidence (2010-2021). EClinicalMedicine, 39, 101059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101059 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101059

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, G. o. t. N. (2023). Mental health and psychosocial support in crisis situations. Retrieved 20 August 2023 from https://www.government.nl/topics/mhpss/funding-and-support-for-mental-health-and-psychosocial-support-in-crisis-situations/mhpss-worldwide-facts-and-figures#:~:text=Mental%20health%20in%20general,people%20worldwide%20suffer%20from%20depression

Miralles, I., Granell, C., Díaz-Sanahuja, L., Van Woensel, W., Bretón-López, J., Mira, A., Castilla, D., & Casteleyn, S. (2020). Smartphone apps for the treatment of mental disorders: systematic review. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 8(4), e14897. https://doi.org/10.2196/14897 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/14897

Nguse, S., & Wassenaar, D. (2021). Mental health and COVID-19 in South Africa. South African Journal of Psychology, 51(2), 304–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463211001543 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463211001543

Nguyen, A. W. (2020). Religion and mental health in racial and ethnic minority populations: A review of the literature. Innovation in Aging, 4(5), igaa035. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa035 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa035

Nilsen, P., Svedberg, P., Nygren, J., Frideros, M., Johansson, J., & Schueller, S. (2022). Accelerating the impact of artificial intelligence in mental healthcare through implementation science. Implementation Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895221112033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895221112033

Rwafa-Ponela, T., Price, J., Nyatela, A., Nqakala, S., Mosam, A., Erzse, A., Lalla-Edward, S. T., Hove, J., Kahn, K., Tollman, S., Hofman, K., & Goldstein, S. (2022). "We were afraid": Mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in two South African districts. IInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159217 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159217

Shields, C., Cunningham, S. G., Wake, D. J., Fioratou, E., Brodie, D., Philip, S., & Conway, N. T. (2022). User-centered design of a novel risk prediction behavior change tool augmented with an artificial intelligence engine (MyDiabetesIQ): A sociotechnical systems approach. JMIR Human Factors, 9(1), e29973. https://doi.org/10.2196/29973 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/29973

Squires, M., Tao, X., Elangovan, S., Gururajan, R., Zhou, X., Acharya, U. R., & Li, Y. (2023). Deep learning and machine learning in psychiatry: a survey of current progress in depression detection, diagnosis and treatment. Brain Informatics, 10(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40708-023-00188-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40708-023-00188-6

Vaishya, R., Javaid, M., Khan, I. H., & Haleem, A. (2020). Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews, 14(4), 337–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.04.012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.04.012

Wei, W., & Wang, X. (2022). The impact of artificial intelligence on the mental health of manufacturing workers: the mediating role of overtime work and the work environment. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.862407 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.862407

World Health Organisation. (2023). Artificial intelligence in mental health research: new WHO study on applications and challenges. Retrieved 31 August 2023 from https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/06-02-2023-artificial-intelligence-in-mental-health-research--new-who-study-on-applications-and-challenges

World Health Organization. (2022). World mental health report: transforming mental health for all: executive summary. World Health Organization. Retrieved 20 August 2023 from https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/356115

World mental health report. (2022). Transforming mental health for all. Geneva: World Health Organization. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Retrieved 20 August 2023 from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338

Zhao, J., Wu, M., Zhou, L., Wang, X., & Jia, J. (2022). Cognitive psychology-based artificial intelligence review. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 1024316. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.1024316 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.1024316