Different mobile apps are available for emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and for anger management but their authenticity should be verified, Shahul Ameen, editor of the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine (IJPM), has said.
Dr. Ameen was delivering the third Dr. Fazal Mohammed memorial lecture on ‘Smartphone apps in Medicine and Psychiatry’ at the Department of Psychiatry at Pushpagiri Medical College in Thiruvalla on Wednesday.
There are entirely different sets of mobile applications other than social media, which physicians or psychiatrists can use for the benefit of patients.
According to him, there are apps which remind one to take medicines on time and even let the family member know whether one has taken it or not.
However, Dr Ameen stressed the need to ensure the authenticity of the source of these applications, whether they are developed by medical personnel or not. He spoke on the usefulness of the apps in screening for various disorders, for administering psychological scales and tests, and in the field of research.
Presiding over the meeting, Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, secretary general, World Psychiatric Association, said mobile apps should not replace the therapeutic alliance between a patient and the doctor.
To assess health
It was always advisable to use these apps for assessing the patient’s health conditions only and that too on the advice of the treating physician or the psychiatrist.
Fr Mathew Mazhavancheril, academic director, Pushpagiri Group of Institutions, inaugurated the meeting. He recalled the contributions of Dr Fazal Mohammed to the field of mental health.
Fr Mazhavancheril also presented the Dr Fazal Mohammed Lecture Award to Dr Ameen on the occasion.
