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Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health
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Short Communication
Introduction
The global pandemic, coronavirus (COVID-19), had devas-
tating impacts on the world, including the healthcare indus-
try and the general population. Ensuing the onset of the
pandemic, symptoms of anxiety and depression experienced
a dramatic rise by 25%.1 The statistics shown are concerning,
as the consequences of failing to address mental health issues
can present a largely untreated challenge of suicide, which
were found to lead to premature death of approximately 20
years earlier.2 At this juncture, the emergence of artificial
intelligence (AI) has become a promising tool to be lever-
aged in the global mental healthcare industry.
Artificial Intelligence Technology in
Mental Healthcare Industry: Benefits
Enhance Accessibility to and Affordability for
Mental Health Support
An alarming majority of individuals with mental health disor-
ders globally fall short in accessing high-quality mental health
services due to the scarcity of mental health professionals and
affordability. As supported by the latest data by the World
Health Organization (WHO),3 the ratio of psychiatrists per
100,000 ranges between 0.0 and 48.0 by region. Less than
2 to 48.0 in Europe and Central Asia, 10.5 to 14.7 in North
America, less than 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean
(excluded 21.7 in Argentina [2016]), 0.3 to less than 10 in
East Asia and the Pacific (excluded 11.9 in Japan [2016], 13.5
in Australia [2015], and 28.5 in New Zealand [2016]),
0.2 to 2.0 in Middle East and North Africa, and 0.2 to 0.4 in
South Asia.3 The utilization of AI applications offers an alter-
native platform that contributes to ease of access to mental
health support, improves flexibility, and is time-saving.
Thus, it can be a beneficial source of support for mental
health patients, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Increasing the affordability of AI applications is expected to
increase the chances of accessibility, specifically for low-
income households, thereby becoming one of the solutions to
address the gap in supply and demand issues for mental health
services. More importantly, those who live in underserved
communities or remote areas with a lack of or no access to
psychiatrists will be the next group of people who will be
benefited. This ensures equal benefits for patients to receive
support, therapy care, or psychiatrist-monitored medication,
thus reducing the risks of suicide.
Reduce Stigma and Fear of Judgment
Stigma and discrimination are among the other prominent
barriers preventing people from seeking consultation from
mental health professionals. The AI applications have the
added benefit of being accessible without the need for human
interaction. It helps alleviate the fear of judgment, enhance
trust in self-disclosure, and increase confidence in sharing
mental health-related issues with mental health profession-
als. Thus, it offers a safe and private space for people seeking
support in a judgment-free environment,4 which will broaden
its accessibility.5 Greater gains to the AI applications include
promoting self-awareness and providing an alternative path-
way to provide support in assessing and diagnosing symp-
toms that range from mild to moderate on top of digital
interventions like telehealth. However, a robust evaluation of
the formats of AI application tools is essential to ensure their
safety and effectiveness, while minimizing the risks of infor-
mation misinterpretation. This is crucial given the signifi-
cance of AI application tools, which are generally designed
to support health services including monitoring, diagnosing,
and generating personalized treatment plans.6
Improve Clinical Care
The continuous improvement of AI applications in replicating
discrete human intelligence skills can significantly benefit
mental health practitioners in their clinical care.7 In particular,
1303790APHXXX10.1177/10105395241303790Asia Pacific Journal of Public HealthYong et al
research-article2024
1Indooroopilly State High School, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
2Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, The National University
of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
3School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD,
Australia
Corresponding Author:
Kun Hing Yong, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University,
170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia.
Email: kunhing.yong@griffithuni.edu.au
AI Technology: A New Game Changer
for the Future Mental Health Industry?
Elizabeth Yong1, Yen Nee Teo2, and Kun Hing Yong3
2 Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 00(0)
AI applications can improve the accuracy and effectiveness
of diagnosis through leveraging the extensive evidence-based
data sets to facilitate personalized treatment plans, minimize
human errors, and improve decision-making.8 However, due
to the distinctive diagnostics of mental health illnesses,9 capi-
talizing on a highly specific and sensitive machine learning
algorithms is essential to augment the effectiveness of tai-
lored treatment strategies and interventions.
Artificial Intelligence Technology in
Mental Healthcare Industry:
Challenges
Integrating AI applications into mental health services has
the potential to provide a promising prospect. However, sev-
eral challenges remain to be addressed before the mental
healthcare industry can fully reap the potential benefits of AI
technologies. One of the advantages of AI technology is the
capability of handling huge data, which can be beneficial for
analysis. In this case, data management can be challenging.
On one hand, data and knowledge sharing enhance new
knowledge and skills among mental health practitioners;
on the other hand, it raises concerns regarding ethical issues
in relation to patients’ privacy and legal responsibility.
Other challenges could be transparency and methodological
flaws,10 which can significantly affect risks of misinterpre-
tation, outcomes of decision-making, and increase risks of
mortality, and hence, trust and integrity of the AI applica-
tions in mental health domains. The final challenge is the
acceptance level of AI applications by patients, which is
dominantly influenced by patients’ confidence toward it as
well as the costs of applications of AI technology.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 epidemic has presented unprecedented chal-
lenges and significant changes that have had adverse impacts
on the mental health outcomes of people with pre-existing
mental health conditions. Despite the development of mental
health services, factors including stigma, fear of judgment,
accessibility, and affordability contributed to unmet needs
for mental health services. The development of AI technol-
ogy and the prospect of adopting AI technology in mental
healthcare as digital medicine are promising to help over-
come the current barriers and benefit the mental health
industry. Nevertheless, there remain several challenges,
including transparency, ethical issues, data management, and
risks of misinterpretation, that must be addressed before the
mental healthcare industry can fully realize the benefits of
AI technologies. Thus, researchers should actively engage in
lending their clinical and scientific expertise to help trans-
form mental health practice and enhance care for patients.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Kun Hing Yong https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4709-8055
References
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The high demand for mental health services and scarce supply of healthcare professionals are increasingly suppressing the mental healthcare industry. The emergence of artificial intelligence shows the potential to be able to transform the landscape of this industry. The application of artificial intelligence has offered a promising hope to bridge the gap between the long-lasting demand and supply issues in the industry, and to provide better healthcare support, as it reduces the fear of judgement while increasing self-awareness. Nevertheless, some challenges need to be overcome before the mental healthcare industry can truly capitalise on artificial intelligence.
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