If you are suffering from depression then you surely need to have a smartphone. As a new study suggests that smartphone apps help reduce depression.
During the study it was found that smartphones open up non-stigmatising and self-managing avenues of care for the people with depression because smartphones can help them monitor, understand and manage their own mental health.
According to the study the Apps, which are used as an "integrative medicine" approach, can be particularly useful for improving mood and tackling symptoms in patients with a range of mental health symptoms and conditions including major depression, mild to moderate depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and insomnia.
For the study, the team systematically reviewed 18 randomised controlled trials which examined a total of 22 different smartphones-delivered mental health interventions.
3,400 male and female participants between the ages of 18-59 were taken into consideration for the study.
"The majority of people in developed countries own smartphones, including younger people who are increasingly affected by depression," said lead author Joseph Firth, postdoctoral research fellow at Australia's National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM).
"Smartphone devices may ultimately be capable of providing instantly accessible and highly effective treatments for depression, reducing the societal and economic burden of this condition worldwide," Firth added.
The research was recently published in the journal World Psychiatry.
(With Agency Inputs)
