#06 Mental Health and Wellbeing

Restrictive measures enforced around the world due to Covid-19 multiplied with additional pressures including social isolation, poor housing, unemployment and poverty, have led to increased levels of anxiety, stress, loneliness and have had a negative effect on many people's mental health. This has also raised concerns about the potential impact on suicide rates due to zero social interaction. Since this is a serious issue which desperately needs to be addressed, all of us in the group agreed to discuss and focus on the realm of mental health/wellbeing from the next session. We did some brainstorming and came up with different ideas to address the issue.

Mental health is attached with a lot of stigma and that prevents people from talking about it or even getting help from professionals. The discrimination people experience - from society, their own families, friends and employers, makes their difficulties worse and makes it harder for them to recover. I then discussed with my group how social robots have enormous potential to help people deal with loneliness, anxiety, stress, depression, drug and alcohol abuse and eating disorders etc. The beauty of social robot interventions is that people could talk to them about anything and everything and not get judged for it. They provide a judgement free zone which would help people worry less about what people think and focus more on their health. According to Oracle/Workplace Intelligence study, only 18 per cent of people said they would prefer humans over robots to support their mental health, as they believe robots provide a judgement-free zone, an unbiased outlet to share problems, and quick answers to health-related questions.

Later I thought of a wearable technology for monitoring and maintaining an individual’s mental and emotional state. Wearing the watch would help users improve their way of living by being in charge and taking care of their mental well-being. The watch will also provide reassurance, advice and support. If the watch detects an usual behaviour like rising heart rate, heavy sweating, low or high blood pressure or even a difference in your tone of voice, then it would help you calm down and make you feel better by providing encouraging messages of support like take a break, you deserve it! Stop and breathe! you're doing great, keep it up! It would also allow the users to log how they feel each passing day which would help in monitoring their moods as well. This wearable device would also be a great alternative for users who can't or won't see a professional in person for any kind of reason.

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