UIC Smartphone App Aims To Fight Depression In Teens

By Daniel Tucker
According to one recent study, people who checked social media the most frequently had almost three times the risk of depression.
According to one recent study, people who checked social media the most frequently had almost three times the risk of depression.
According to one recent study, people who checked social media the most frequently had almost three times the risk of depression.
According to one recent study, people who checked social media the most frequently had almost three times the risk of depression.

UIC Smartphone App Aims To Fight Depression In Teens

By Daniel Tucker
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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a new smartphone app to detect depression and other mental health disorders.

The Bi Affect app uses metadata from the iPhone’s proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, camera, accelerometer, gyroscope, and more to track the mood and mental health of users.

More than 2,200 people have downloaded Bi Affect since it launched in March 2018.

It’s one of several apps being developed across the nation in the so-called “smartphone psychiatry” movement, which seeks to turn devices suspected to contribute to depression into tools to fight depression.

Morning Shift checks in with one of the researchers behind the technology about how it works and its potential impact.