<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
electronic	O
and	O
communication	O
technologies	O
as	O
a	O
therapeutic	O
aid	O
to	O
healthcare	O
practices	O
is	O
commonly	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
telemedicine	B-Application
or	O
eHealth	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mental	O
health	O
technologies	O
used	O
by	O
professionals	O
as	O
an	O
adjunct	O
to	O
mainstream	O
clinical	O
practices	O
include	O
email	O
,	O
SMS	B-Device
,	O
virtual	B-Application
reality	I-Application
,	O
computer	B-Application
programs	I-Application
,	O
blogs	O
,	O
social	O
networks	O
,	O
the	O
telephone	O
,	O
video	B-Application
conferencing	I-Application
,	O
computer	O
games	O
,	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
and	O
podcasts	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
TED	O
speaker	O
Jane	O
McGanigall	O
's	O
website	O
Games	B-Application
For	I-Application
Change	I-Application
includes	O
a	O
health	O
category	O
,	O
which	O
presents	O
many	O
mental	O
health	O
games	O
improving	O
and	O
education	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
have	O
used	O
virtual	B-Application
reality	I-Application
(	O
VR	O
)	O
(	O
simulated	O
real	O
environments	O
through	O
digital	O
media	O
)	O
to	O
successfully	O
treat	O
post-traumatic	O
stress	O
disorder	O
(	O
PTSD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
fear	O
of	O
flying	O
or	O
arachnophobia	B-Device
(	O
fear	O
of	O
spiders	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
computer	O
game	O
that	O
provides	O
such	O
therapy	O
is	O
SPARX	B-Application
,	O
which	O
has	O
notably	O
been	O
shown	O
to	O
be	O
about	O
as	O
effective	O
as	O
face-to-face	O
therapy	O
in	O
a	O
clinical	O
trial	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technology	O
companies	O
are	O
developing	O
mobile-based	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
chatbot	B-Application
applications	O
that	O
use	O
evidence-based	O
techniques	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
cognitive	O
behavioral	O
therapy	O
(	O
CBT	O
)	O
,	O
to	O
provide	O
early	O
intervention	O
to	O
support	O
mental	O
health	O
and	O
emotional	O
well-being	O
challenges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
(	O
AI	B-Application
)	O
text-based	O
conversational	O
applications	O
delivered	O
securely	O
and	O
privately	O
over	O
mobile	O
devices	O
have	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
scale	O
globally	O
and	O
offer	O
contextual	O
and	O
always-available	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
recent	O
real	O
world	O
data	O
evaluation	O
study	O
,	O
published	O
in	O
the	O
open	O
access	O
journal	O
JMIR	O
mHealth	O
&	O
,	O
that	O
used	O
an	O
AI-based	B-Application
emotionally	O
intelligent	O
mobile	O
chatbot	B-Application
app	O
,	O
Wysa	O
,	O
identified	O
a	O
significantly	O
higher	O
average	O
improvement	O
in	O
symptoms	O
of	O
depression	O
and	O
a	O
higher	O
proportion	O
of	O
positive	O
in-app	O
experience	O
among	O
the	O
more	O
engaged	O
users	O
of	O
the	O
app	O
as	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
less	O
engaged	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
studies	O
have	O
investigated	O
the	O
clinical	O
efficacy	O
of	O
remote-	O
,	O
internet	O
-	O
and	O
chatbot-based	O
therapy	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
other	O
factors	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
enjoyment	O
and	O
smoothness	O
,	O
that	O
are	O
important	O
for	O
evaluating	O
therapy	O
sessions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Research	O
published	O
in	O
2019	O
reported	O
a	O
comparative	O
study	O
of	O
therapy	O
sessions	O
following	O
the	O
interaction	O
of	O
10	O
participants	O
with	O
human	O
therapists	O
versus	O
a	O
chatbot	B-Application
(	O
simulated	O
using	O
a	O
Wizard	O
of	O
Oz	O
protocol	O
)	O
,	O
finding	O
evidence	O
to	O
suggest	O
that	O
when	O
compared	O
against	O
a	O
human	O
therapist	O
control	O
,	O
participants	O
find	O
chatbot-provided	O
therapy	O
less	O
useful	O
,	O
less	O
enjoyable	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
conversations	O
less	O
smooth	O
(	O
a	O
key	O
dimension	O
of	O
a	O
positively-regarded	O
therapy	O
session	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
study	O
suggests	O
that	O
combining	O
cognitive	O
behavioral	O
therapy	O
(	O
CBT	O
)	O
with	O
SlowMo	O
,	O
an	O
app	O
that	O
helps	O
people	O
notice	O
their	O
"	O
unhelpful	O
fast-thinking	O
"	O
might	O
be	O
more	O
effective	O
for	O
treating	O
paranoia	B-Application
in	O
people	O
with	O
psychosis	B-Application
than	O
CBT	O
alone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
uncertainty	O
around	O
the	O
ethical	O
and	O
legal	O
implications	O
of	O
digital	O
technologies	O
in	O
the	O
mental	O
health	O
context	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
,	O
machine	O
learning	O
,	O
deep	O
learning	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
forms	O
of	O
automation	O
.	O
</s>
