Treating Depression Through Information Technology

Depression is on route to becoming the world leading cause of disability by 2020, according to Maja Hadzic, Fedja Hadzic and Tharam Dillon of the Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence Institute, at Curtin University of Technology. They say that unlike other epidemics such as the flu where there is a specific pathogen, there is not one single "source" of depression. Therefore, they say the best way to combat depression is through early diagnosis through the use of information technology.
The team of three have created a system which combines patient data with the data describing mental health of therapists and their interaction with the patients. They say that this data can easily be mined, revealing patterns in the onset, treatment and management of depression. These patterns can not only further increase our knowledge of depression, but also allow for far more personalized care, considering no two cases of depression are exactly the same.
This seems to be a far better approach to depression rather that prescribing the harsh antidepressants popular today. Considering depression can indirectly cause other conditions such as high blood pressure of diabetes, hopefully the use of information technology can allow for the early diagnosis and development of new treatments for depression.
Source [The Science Daily]