With eMindLog, consumers can self-measure their stress, anxiety and depression for better mental wellbeing. They can opt to securely share their data with a doctor or therapist using the eMindLog Pro application, supporting better-informed diagnosis, treatment and followup care. (Credit: eMind Science Corp.)
Just as people routinely monitor the vital signs of their bodies – blood pressure, temperature, cholesterol, sleep, and exercise, etc. – for physical health, now they can track the vital signs of their minds for mental wellbeing.
A mobile health platform, eMindLog, allows people to take control of their mental wellbeing by self-measuring their stress, anxiety, and depression using their smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer. Consumers can also use it to determine how much their medication, therapy, meditation or yoga is helping.
“Stress, anxiety and depression are pervasive in today’s world, and they take a heavy toll on our health, productivity and personal relationships,” says Michael Heffernan, president, CEO and cofounder of eMind Science Corp. “We developed eMindLog as an easy-to-use, secure digital tool for tracking behavioral health, with the option to share results with a healthcare provider for early diagnosis and treatment.”
eMindLog merges mobile health technology with the insights from neuroscience and psychology about how the brain processes daily subjective experiences into the emotions, thoughts and behaviors that largely determine mental wellbeing.
Using eMindLog on a digital device, patients and other users can self-measure their stress, anxiety, and depression daily and weekly by answering questions about their emotions, thoughts and behaviors. The questions take about three minutes to answer. Algorithms produce scores and graphical indexes for anxiety, anger, sadness, and lack of pleasure.
If they choose, users can share the resulting data with their doctor or therapist through the platform’s reporting dashboard. The data can support better-informed diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care.
“User data can indicate important mental health trends including potential thresholds for clinical anxiety and depression,” says Philip T. Ninan, M.D., the company’s co-founder, chairman and chief scientific officer. “When the data is shared, it can give healthcare providers a wealth of quantitative information for optimal diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring for better health outcomes.”
eMindLog is free to patients and other individual users, who can establish accounts at www.emindlog.com.
The platform includes two fee-based applications: eMindLog Pro, a portal connecting healthcare providers with patients, and eMindLog Enterprise, a version for self-insured employers to offer as part of their benefits and wellness programs.
“Our goal for eMindLog is to engage patients, healthcare providers, employers, healthcare systems, and insurers in a robust ecosystem that provides patient-driven behavioral healthcare outcomes data for early intervention, especially if a patient is managing a long-term illness or chronic disease that often is accompanied by fear, anxiety and depression,” Heffernan says. “If untreated, these conditions, when coupled with lifestyle factors and illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and inflammatory immune diseases, can impact individual morbidity.”
eMindLog allowd patients and users with knowledge of their own minds and a vocabulary with visual reports that help them express quantitatively how they are feeling. More informed patients lead to better relationships with healthcare providers.
eMindLog also features content from Mayo Clinic that reflects the knowledge of Mayo Clinic physicians and scientists actively engaged in patient care, medical education, and scientific research. This content will help to augment users’ knowledge, enhance their eMindLog tracking experience and further empower their control of overall wellness.
At least 75 million adults in the United States are estimated to have high or extreme stress and/or anxiety or depressive disorders. Untreated mental illness costs the U.S. at least $105 billion in lost productivity each year, according to a recent Harvard University study.
eMindLog is a private, secure, cloud-based system, and only users can see their personalized data, unless they opt to share it. The system is compliant with HIPAA standards and meets current healthcare reporting requirements.
The quantitative self-measurement system and algorithms used in eMindLog were developed by Dr. Ninan during his decades of scholarship in neuroscience research, teaching and clinical practice.
