Hey Siri, Am I Depressed?:
Digital Phenotyping and Mental Health
7기 김유진 (Yoojin
Kim)
Mental
Health in South Korea
According to a 2021 report by the
Korea Development Institute (KDI), South Korea has placed number 35 out of the
OECD’s 37 member countries in their happiness level: almost becoming the
unhappiest country among them (Choi, 2021). The reasons included excessive
working hours, economic inequality, poor air quality, and more. On top of that,
the outbreak of COVID-19 has dramatically triggered Korean young adults to
question their career futures, hence, increased the rate of depression,
self-harming, and suicide (Ryall, 2020). Despite the Korean people’s poor
mental state, however, the prevalence of depression diagnosis and adequate
treatment is substantially low (3.1%) compared to the average of other
countries (7.2%) (Kim et al., 2020). This is mainly due to Korea’s severe
social stigma of mental illness stemmed from strong adherence to Confucianism
and collectivism (Ran et al., 2021). Because Confucian principle “emphasizes
individual will, spiritual strength, and self-discipline” (Chu, 2018), those
with mental illness that deviate from the supposedly “strong-willed” majority
are often discriminated against and labeled as outcasts. This explains why a
lot of Koreans delay or avoid actively reaching out for professional help,
which will sometimes lead to irreversible consequences like suicide. Therefore,
it is imperative to come up with an aid that could break the barrier of important
intervention.
Flattening
the Curve: Introducing Digital Phenotyping
Digital phenotyping is “the
moment-by-moment, in situ quantification[s] of the individual-level human
phenotype using data from personal digital devices” (Huckvale et al., 2019). In
other words, one’s smartphone or other wearable devices track and analyze the
person’s activity to detect the presence of mental illness. Since the
technology directly gathers the data without any middlemen like psychiatrists
or survey questionnaires, it can help treatment-naïve patients with early
diagnosis. The prospective patients will not have to go through overwhelming,
unapproachable conventional diagnosis processes since digital phenotyping can
unobtrusively measure one’s mood, thoughts, frequency of social interactions,
and physical activities through social media activity, web browser search
history, call/text history, and accelerometers/GPS, respectively (Jacobson et
al., 2020).
This method of analysis is not only
more accessible for the patients but also can yield a much more accurate
diagnosis compared to the conventional diagnosis method. Usually, psychiatrists
ask patients to fill out a survey that inquires the latter’s mood, thoughts,
behaviors, and more. The result could often be flawed by the patients’
imprecise memory of their past and response bias (the tendency for a survey
participant to respond falsely in a way that seems more socially acceptable or
according to the perceived intention of the researcher by the participant),
resulting in imprecise diagnosis and treatment. Digital phenotyping comes in
handy for such a situation, since it can see through every bit and detail of
one’s life. This raises a question, then: what are some dangers or limitations
of this technology?
Just like any other innovative
technology, digital typing is also a double-edged sword and has room for
improvement. The first and foremost issue is the topic of privacy and security.
Although the technology of digital tracing or collecting individual data has
long been in commercial use, the approach of implementing it in a medical
context is quite new; even the term "digital phenotyping" itself has
only been coined and introduced to academia for few years. Hence, related regulations,
especially ones regarding privacy and security are still lacking. Other
concerns include accuracy, feasibility, economic efficiency, and more (Huckvale
et al., 2019). Hopefully, though, pioneering services such as Beiwe and
MindStrong Health on top of increasing research in academia forecast a
promising prospect.
Next Steps
After all, for digital phenotyping
technology to meet its full potential, multidisciplinary efforts are a must.
Government should legislate up-to-date regulation regarding data usage and
privacy while various stakeholders such as scientists, technicians, or
businessmen diligently cooperate in research and development. Most importantly,
increased awareness and acceptance of mental health issues by the public are
essential for accelerating innovation.
Our brains are not much different
from other organs: just as our stomach aches, our brain can of course hurt too.
However, Korean society seems to find it particularly difficult to accept the
fact. In the short future, hopefully, the advancement of digital phenotyping
will render no brains left behind.
References
Choi, J. (2021, May 19). S. Korea
among unhappiest countries in OECD. The
Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210519000126.
Chu,
M. (2018, January 12). Why is mental health treatment sluggish in Korea? Korea Biomedical Review.
https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=2342.
Huckvale,
K., Venkatesh, S., & Christensen, H. (2019, September 6). Toward clinical digital phenotyping: a timely
opportunity to consider purpose, quality, and safety. npj Digital Medicine, 2 (88). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-019-0166-1
Jacobson,
N., Summers, B., & Wilhelm, S. (2020, May 29). Digital Biomarkers of Social
Anxiety Severity: Digital Phenotyping Using Passive Smartphone Sensors. Journal
of Medical Internet Research, 22(5), e16875. https://doi.org/10.2196/16875
Kim, G., Jo, M., & Shin, Y.
(2020, October 12). Increased prevalence of depression in South Korea from 2002
to 2013. Sci Rep, 10 (16979). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74119-4
Ran,
M., Hall, B., Su, T., Prawira B., Breth-Petersen, M., Li, X., & Zhang, T.
(2021, January 7). Stigma of mental illness and cultural factors in Pacific Rim
region: a systematic review. BMC
Psychiatry, 21 (8). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02991-5
Ryall, J. (2020, September 15).
South Korea's soaring suicide, self-harm rates pinned on pandemic. DW.COM.
https://www.dw.com/en/south-koreas-soaring-suicide-self-harm-rates-pinned-on-pandemic/a-54931167.
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