Mental Health: The Bot Therapist Will See You Now

Mr Bhat urges business leaders to be bold and invest in innovative solutions because he believes that technology “is excellent for diagnosis and even dialogue.” He also argues, however, that the “synthesis and recommendations” should come from a trained, human professional who can use their intuition to discern individual nuances.

Similarly not shocked by the Oracle statistics is Brendan Street, Professional Head of Emotional Wellbeing at Nuffield Health in the UK. His insight is especially revealing, though – and potentially worrisome for business leaders. 

He points to a 2018 Legal & General survey that shows that just 4 percent of workers who had experienced depression felt able to talk to their manager or superior about it. Interestingly, the same research also showed that 78 percent of employers believed their employees would be comfortable discussing such problems at work. “There is a huge disconnect,” says Mr Street.

So, have things changed in the three years since the Legal & General research was published? Workplace well-being has certainly been a trend recently, and there were signs that organizations were “starting to care more about mental health” before the coronavirus pandemic, reveals Allison English, Deputy Chief Economic Officer at UK-based Leesman – publisher of the Leesman Index, which is considered the world’s foremost employee workplace experience assessment benchmark. 

Now, as mental health issues are on the rise around the world – in large part due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic – organizations know they need to do more to support their staff, whether they are working from the office or remotely. In 2020, mental health support skyrocketed to the forefront of the agenda for business leaders, but, as Ms English adds, technology solutions alone are unlikely to succeed as “different employees need different things.”

With mental health becoming more of a priority for employers, many business leaders are reaching for technologies like chatbots, robotic counselors and digital applications as a convenient and effective route to workplace well-being. But can technology alone guarantee better mental health for all of a business’ workforce?

All over the world, bold business leaders are committing to innovative mental health technology solutions and beginning to realize the data opportunities and lasting value they provide for both employees and employers. 

Given the rise of the mental health crisis, technology can also be useful for filling in gaps where there simply aren’t enough therapists to go around, suggests Annie Meharg, Chief Commercial Officer of digital mental health service provider Kooth. “There are only so many qualified therapists,” she says. “The US and UK have a lot of therapists, but then if you look at countries that are quite new to therapy – like Southeast Asia, where therapy is becoming much bigger – [technology] can help us plug that gap, as well as to give people the support that they need.”

Her company blends technology with qualified human practitioners, providing a range of therapies and peer-to-peer support for 6.5 million people in the UK. The aggregated employee data the employer receives not only enables a review of specific issues impacting their workforce but also provides an opportunity to consider their entire well-being strategy.

The most obvious advantage of digital mental health services is that they can provide support at any time of the day, or night, anywhere in the world – so long as the user has an internet connection. Ms Meharg acknowledges, though, that relying on technology is not enough. She asks: “What happens when you need more? That's the conundrum for employers.” 

This point is developed by Rui Duarte Brandão, Chief Executive Officer of Brazilian digital health platform Zenklub, which he co-founded in early 2016. “Technology is relevant when it comes to scaling, data gathering, and [the] democratization of financial and geographical access to emotional health professionals,” he says. “Human beings are dynamic, creative, thoughtful about problems that are difficult to solve, and empathetic – things that a machine cannot be.” Mr Brandão stresses that organizations must “blend health professionals and technology” to serve employees with the best mental health support.

Darcy Gruttadaro, Director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), agrees that while technology is a tool that should be offered to workers as part of employee benefits, there will still be people who prefer to connect with a human mental health professional. 
 
“It may depend on the industry, or the severity of the condition, or the age and gender of the employee when it comes to using technology – these are all variables at play as to whether employees engage with technology,” she says. 

Conversely, for some organizations, the culture may not allow employees to feel psychologically safe to discuss a mental health concern with their manager. “They may fear that to do so would put their job in jeopardy or lead to a manager losing confidence in their performance,” continues Ms Gruttadaro.

She advises employers to ask staff about their preferences when it comes to the use of technology and mental health. She also warns that organizations should be aware of the digital divide that exists in people’s ability to access and effectively use technology. 

Chatbots are improving, though, says Brandon Staglin, President of One Mind, an American not-for-profit organization that supports brain health research. He points to a recent review of Woebot by One Mind PsyberGuide, for example, which praises the chatbot’s “evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) content, its lighthearted conversational style and its engaging push notifications.” 

The review notes a randomized controlled trial that showed Woebot is effective in decreasing depression in young adults. Since Woebot’s language is geared for adolescents and young adults, it could be helpful for companies with many Generation-Z and Millennial staff, suggests Mr Staglin.

Wherever you stand on the bot-therapist debate, it’s clear that doing nothing, and ignoring the growing global mental health crisis, is not a good option. As outlined earlier, the business cost of failing to support the well-being and mental health of staff far outweighs the investment required to keep people engaged, motivated and productive. Business leaders need to increase their investment in both technology and human solutions to better support the mental health and well-being of their staff – and themselves. 

Encouraging people to talk to either human or machine, and being proactive – seeking to prevent issues before having to cure them – will reap rewards, both in terms of attracting and retaining top talent and keeping the workforce motivated and productive. Failure to engage in this increasingly important area will have a damaging effect on individuals and organizations alike.

Smart businesses care for and support their staff. Here, UK-based Brendan Street, Professional Head of Emotional Wellbeing at Nuffield Health, offers five expert tips business leaders can share with employees – and even heed themselves – on how to cope with uncertainty, which, if left unmanaged, could lead to feelings of stress, low mood, and depression.