Big Data, Worsening The Mental Health Stigma
Let’s face it; the last almost 2-years have impacted many people creating more silently suffering from mental health conditions. However, as we use big data to assess mental health, are we worsening the stigma? When we can, without stigma and bias, support the patient’s mental health, we will naturally see improvements across all disease states.
Behavioral health conditions are coming out of the shadows of COVID-19. Employers, payers, providers, and innovators are hectically looking for ways to support one of the most vulnerable populations.
This is the perfect moment to change the way we deliver care in behavioral health. There is an opportunity to increase access, convenience and reduce the stigma associated with care.
Is big data, worsening the mental health stigma?
At the fingertips of most people are smartphones, giving healthcare innovators access to more information than ever. Big data is extremely powerful.
Unlike any time before, we can get more data about what is going on to provide synchronous and asynchronous support. Not only are we looking at the patient’s perspectives, but we are also gathering biometric data from smartwatches and sensors. We can monitor the habits of a patient, leading to enhanced risk stratification and targeted education.
This data provides terrific insights into what is going on; it can show us trends and help to hypothesize outcomes. The data can help to predict episodic events before the patient may even realize what is going on.
At an individual level, the data available is transformative. It is when we start aggregating that data that we begin losing these valuable insights.
When we over-analyze the data, we lose the human nature of what is going on. Big data is volumes of massive data points, empowering our ability to develop trends and forecast future events. However, big data does not understand the unique nature of the patient.
Mental health is as unique as snowflakes
The perspective of the patient impacts their behavioral health condition. An individual with high anxiety may find themselves heading down the rabbit hole of excessive worry. At the same time, another patient in the same situation may fast track to a panic attack and the emergency department.
Each patient’s experience and perspective on what is going on may determine the severity, length, and overall impact a condition may have on their lives.
Humanize Mental Health Then Leverage Big Data
Stigmatization of those with mental health conditions comes from a lack of understanding. This lack of knowledge creates stereotypes that nurture society’s misconceptions.
A great example is depression and how many, you would never know, are feeling down and depressed. However, through platforms like TV, society portrays depression in its most severe forms, with the individual curled up in bed, unable to move or function for that day.
Yes, big data does show that individuals with mental health conditions are not alone. What it does not do is help a patient self-identify as someone in need.
Numbers are not relatable; they do not improve the understanding of the society around behavioral health. Big data is making mental health unrelatable and the stigma worse.
We need to humanize mental health; when we think this could be me, my friend, or my loved one, the stigma will begin to go away.
Then and only then can we use the data to empower the outcomes.
Understand the patient to get to the root of the problem
In the end, our focus should not be putting a band-aid on a health concern; it should be about solving the root of the problem. When we get to the source of the problem, mental and behavioral health will be at the top of the list—got to feel good to get good!
Check out one of my early posts about how Depression Does Not Have to Derail Chronic Disease management.