Can Smartphones Pinpoint Depression? Maybe, But Critics Worry It ‘Negates’ Value Of Human Input

It’s possible that smartphones are already eavesdropping on our conversations. Now, it may be enlisted to watch our moods to spot depression.

Using location data, researchers diagnosed participants with depression depending on where they went and how much time they spent on their phones, Time reported. Someday, this could allow smartphones to monitor that data on its own and use it to detect symptoms of depression.

The study went something like this: 28 people, aged 19 to 58, were recruited (from Craigslist, no less) and had a sensor data acquisition app called Purple Robot installed on their smartphones, the Tech Times reported. After participants filled out a depression symptoms questionnaire, the software kept dibs on where the participants went over two weeks — a few times a day, their smartphones asked them a question about their mood.

Among these 28 participants — which isn’t a lot, critics pointed out — smartphones were able to predict with 87 percent accuracy that their users were blue.

At the end of the two weeks, they compared the questionnaire, answers participants provided about their mood, and the location data. According to WebMD, this data revealed that participants who showed signs of depression spent more time at home, went fewer places, or didn’t have much of a routine.

Simply put, people with routines who get out of the house are less likely to be depressed.

With regard to how much time participants spent on their smartphones, the study determined that depressed people spent about an hour using them, and happier people less than 20 — higher usage suggests the user is socially withdrawn and perhaps depressed.

However, as the Tech Times pointed out, the study didn’t ask what people were doing on their phones — playing a game, messaging friends, or working — which is quite relevant.

There are other issues with the study. It’s size, for one, plus most participants were older women, who often suffer from depression, Dr. Aaron Pinkhasov told WebMD. He did admit that the study found a correlation between this data and mood disorders, and noted that the trend to track health with smartphones is already going strong.

Researchers, who have recruited 120 into a second study, want to figure out how to use smartphones to track depression without people having to answer questions. Phone data was better than the questions, anyway, as a predictor of the illness.

The point is to spot depression earlier. It’s a big problem in the U.S.; in 2012, 16 million people had one depressive episode a year.

“Being able to get people timely treatment for depression is a critical failure point in public health right now,” said study author David Mohr.

The possibility that one day smartphones may be able to identify depressive states isn’t exactly a home run as far as psychiatrist Dr. Scott Krakower is concerned.

“The question will be how to find a balance between finding the right treatment, while respecting privacy at the same time. Of course, we should not negate the value of human input — a continued, necessary staple in this computerized world.”

[Photo Courtesy Carsten Koall / Getty Images]