4 ms·
As the former NIH mental health head is quoted in the article: One of the possibilities here is, by using the technologies we already have, technologies that a
by hackuser 11y ago
As the former NIH mental health head is quoted in the article:
One of the possibilities here is, by using the technologies we already have, technologies that are linked to a cellphone, technologies that are linked to the Internet, we may be able to get much more information about behavior than what we’ve been able to use in making a diagnosis
He also makes arguments for more involuntary treatment.
Some ideas like this are already in practice. Some police departments, such as Chicago's, try to predict likely criminals and pre-emptively threaten and track them.
Also, let's remember that the field of mental health gave us lobotomies, torture, and other abuses. I fear society does nothing until there's a catastrophe, and only then reacts.
- baconner 11y agoSomething that I feel does not get enough attention wrt using machine learning is proper consideration of the downsides when there are false positives. There are always false positives and you have to weigh the harm of a false positive against the benefits you think you'll get. On one end of the spectrum a false positive serves you an ad you'd never be interested in. On the other end it gets you killed. Searching for the mentally ill in this way could lean hard toward the latter. Scary stuff if misused.
- baconner 11y agoI'd also add that the big problem in mental health treatment in the US is not identifying people with mental illness. The big problem is that we're not equipped (funded or institutionally prepared) to treat the huge number of people who we already know need it. So seeking out the mentally ill isn't really the big problem either. We should imo be more focused on solving the big issues like stopping using prisons in lieu of real mental health facilities, etc.