Years ago there was talk of developing a mouse that would use sensors imbedded in the plastic to monitor our emotional state while we work, which would then make suggestions as to how to improve performance. While the prototype was interesting, it never made it to market.
However, now a plethora of wearables are hitting the market to address all sorts of physical and mental health issues. Now details from an experimental program using a machine-learning coaching program “based on data collected via personal devices about participants’ mood and daily habits” holds promise for lawyers suffering from mood disorders. Using smartwatch and phone app data, the program “identified each participant’s primary lifestyle triggers of low mood, enabling coaches to create individualized mood improvement plans.”
The smartwatch tracked heart rate and exercise levels and participants logged their mood and answered short questions each day about their quality of sleep, diet, activity level, and how often they talked with friends or family. Then coaches recommended individualized behavioral programs and discussed progress every week.
After six weeks, depressive symptoms were significantly reduced. While most interventions only show about a 30% remission, this program almost doubled those results and significantly lowered anxiety symptoms as well. An encouraging side effect were higher scores on memory and attention tests. And the benefits persisted when checked three months later.
Arguably this result might be achievable by checking in with the various apps available that track mood, identifying patterns, and individually making helpful adjustments in behavior and environment. But the addition of a savvy coach reviewing a handful of important data makes the approach much more powerful. Hopefully this program makes it to market!