(Riya Singh, Intern Journalist): According to a recent study, a text-messaging system could be a safe, scientifically promising, practical method to assist individuals with severe mental illness. The research team examined the impact of text messaging and the assertive community treatment program.
People with serious mental illness are likely to experience symptoms each day for which they may need additional therapy. The study was a three-month pilot. There were 49 participants in whom 62% had schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, 24% had bipolar disorder and 14% had depression.
Licensed mental health practitioners acted as the mobile interventionists on the move. The mobile interventionists were watched regularly to ensure they adhered to the care plan. About 12,000 messages were received during the study, and each message had been processed, tracked, and addressed with a clinician.
The findings revealed that 95% initiated the intervention and texted 69% of possible days with an average of four texts per day. On average, participants sent around 165 or more text messages and received 158 or more messages. The experiment was considered to be effective, as none of the adverse effects were registered. The researchers are planning to study the much greater scale effect of a mental health communications initiative.
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