"Can I Not Be Suicidal on a Sunday?": Understanding Technology-Mediated Pathways to Mental Health Support

Overview

Journal Proc SIGCHI Conf Hum Factor Comput Syst

Date 2022 May 26

PMID 35615053

Authors

Sachin R Pendse

Amit Sharma

Aditya Vashistha

Munmun De Choudhury

Neha Kumar

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Individuals in distress adopt varied pathways in pursuit of care that aligns with their individual needs. Prior work has established that the first resource an individual leverages can influence later care and recovery, but less is understood about how the of a point of care might interact with subsequent pathways to care. We investigate how the design of the Indian mental health helpline system interacts with complex sociocultural factors to marginalize caller needs. We draw on interviews with 18 helpline stakeholders, including individuals who have engaged with helplines in the past, shedding light on how they navigate both technological and structural barriers in pursuit of relief. Finally, we use a design justice framework rooted in Amartya Sen's conceptualization of realization-focused justice to discuss implications and present recommendations towards the design of technology-mediated points of mental health support.

Citing Articles

Patient Perspectives on AI-Driven Predictions of Schizophrenia Relapses: Understanding Concerns and Opportunities for Self-Care and Treatment.

Yoo D, Woo H, Nguyen V, Birnbaum M, Kruzan K, Kim J Proc SIGCHI Conf Hum Factor Comput Syst. 2024; 2024.

PMID: 38894725 PMC: 11184595. DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3642369.

"Our Job is to be so Temporary": Designing Digital Tools that Meet the Needs of Care Managers and their Patients with Mental Health Concerns.

Kornfield R, Lattie E, Nicholas J, Knapp A, Mohr D, Reddy M Proc ACM Hum Comput Interact. 2023; 7(CSCW2).

PMID: 38094872 PMC: 10718568. DOI: 10.1145/3610093.

Leveraging Symptom Search Data to Understand Disparities in US Mental Health Care: Demographic Analysis of Search Engine Trace Data.

Rochford B, Pendse S, Kumar N, De Choudhury M JMIR Ment Health. 2023; 10:e43253.

PMID: 36716082 PMC: 9926343. DOI: 10.2196/43253.

"Can I Not Be Suicidal on a Sunday?": Understanding Technology-Mediated Pathways to Mental Health Support.

Pendse S, Sharma A, Vashistha A, De Choudhury M, Kumar N Proc SIGCHI Conf Hum Factor Comput Syst. 2022; 2021.

PMID: 35615053 PMC: 9128312. DOI: 10.1145/3411764.3445410.

Psychosocial Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Large-scale Quasi-Experimental Study on Social Media.

Saha K, Torous J, Caine E, De Choudhury M J Med Internet Res. 2020; 22(11):e22600.

PMID: 33156805 PMC: 7690250. DOI: 10.2196/22600.

References

Birnbaum M, Rizvi A, Faber K, Addington J, Correll C, Gerber C . Digital Trajectories to Care in First-Episode Psychosis. Psychiatr Serv. 2018; 69(12):1259-1263. PMC: 6408281. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.201800180. View

Gater R, de Almeida e Sousa B, Barrientos G, Caraveo J, Chandrashekar C, Dhadphale M . The pathways to psychiatric care: a cross-cultural study. Psychol Med. 1991; 21(3):761-74. DOI: 10.1017/s003329170002239x. View

Henson P, Wisniewski H, Hollis C, Keshavan M, Torous J . Digital mental health apps and the therapeutic alliance: initial review. BJPsych Open. 2019; 5(1):e15. PMC: 6381418. DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2018.86. View

Munro R . Political psychiatry in post-Mao China and its origins in the cultural revolution. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2002; 30(1):97-106; discussion 95-6. View

Nazroo J, Bhui K, Rhodes J . Where next for understanding race/ethnic inequalities in severe mental illness? Structural, interpersonal and institutional racism. Sociol Health Illn. 2019; 42(2):262-276. PMC: 7028120. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.13001. View

Nichter M . Idioms of distress: alternatives in the expression of psychosocial distress: a case study from South India. Cult Med Psychiatry. 1981; 5(4):379-408. DOI: 10.1007/BF00054782. View

Dias A, Azariah F, Anderson S, Sequeira M, Cohen A, Morse J . Effect of a Lay Counselor Intervention on Prevention of Major Depression in Older Adults Living in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018; 76(1):13-20. PMC: 6583466. DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.3048. View

Torous J, Nicholas J, Larsen M, Firth J, Christensen H . Clinical review of user engagement with mental health smartphone apps: evidence, theory and improvements. Evid Based Ment Health. 2018; 21(3):116-119. PMC: 10270395. DOI: 10.1136/eb-2018-102891. View

Wang K, Varma D, Prosperi M . A systematic review of the effectiveness of mobile apps for monitoring and management of mental health symptoms or disorders. J Psychiatr Res. 2018; 107:73-78. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.10.006. View

10.

Thara R, Padmavati R, Aynkran J, John S . Community mental health in India: A rethink. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2008; 2(1):11. PMC: 2499987. DOI: 10.1186/1752-4458-2-11. View

11.

Iqbal Y, Jahan R, Matin M . Descriptive characteristics of callers to an emotional support and suicide prevention helpline in Bangladesh (first five years). Asian J Psychiatr. 2019; 45:63-65. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2019.09.005. View

12.

Coveney C, Pollock K, Armstrong S, Moore J . Callers' experiences of contacting a national suicide prevention helpline: report of an online survey. Crisis. 2012; 33(6):313-24. PMC: 3643796. DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000151. View

13.

Kleinman A . Concepts and a model for the comparison of medical systems as cultural systems. Soc Sci Med (1967). 1978; 12(2B):85-95. DOI: 10.1016/0160-7987(78)90014-5. View

14.

Armstrong G, Kermode M, Raja S, Suja S, Chandra P, Jorm A . A mental health training program for community health workers in India: impact on knowledge and attitudes. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2011; 5(1):17. PMC: 3169476. DOI: 10.1186/1752-4458-5-17. View

15.

Hom M, Bauer B, Stanley I, Boffa J, Stage D, Capron D . Suicide attempt survivors' recommendations for improving mental health treatment for attempt survivors. Psychol Serv. 2020; 18(3):365-376. DOI: 10.1037/ser0000415. View

16.

Fink R, Shapiro S, Goldensohn S . Family physician referrals for psychiatric consultation and patient initiative in seeking care. Soc Sci Med (1967). 1970; 4(3):273-91. DOI: 10.1016/0037-7856(70)90001-6. View

17.

Chan C, Wong H, Yip P . Exploring the use of telephone helpline pertaining to older adult suicide prevention: A Hong Kong experience. J Affect Disord. 2018; 236:75-79. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.093. View

18.

Johnson J, Devdutt J, Mehrotra S, Bhola P, Sudhir P, Sharma A . Barriers to Professional Help-seeking for Distress and Potential Utility of a Mental Health App Components: Stakeholder Perspectives. Cureus. 2020; 12(2):e7128. PMC: 7105026. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.7128. View

19.

Shidhaye R, Kermode M . Stigma and discrimination as a barrier to mental health service utilization in India. Int Health. 2013; 5(1):6-8. DOI: 10.1093/inthealth/ihs011. View

20.

Rao S . Caste and mental disorders in Bihar. Am J Psychiatry. 1966; 122(9):1045-55. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.122.9.1045. View