“Development has really outpaced the science,” said Stephen Schueller, a clinical psychologist at the University of California-Irvine who specializes in the development and evaluation of digital mental health products. Of the estimated 20,000 mental health apps available for download on personal computers and smartphones, just five have been formally vetted and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which largely has taken a hands-off approach to regulating the space. At least seven mental health app companies have achieved “unicorn” status and are valued at more than $1 billion.īut even as industry hype mounts, researchers and companies are scrambling to prove these apps actually work. Venture capital firms invested more than $2.4 billion in digital behavioral health apps in 2020 - more than twice the amount invested in 2019 - touting support or treatment for issues from burnout and depression to ADHD and bipolar disorder. And research indicates only about half of them receive treatment in a system that is understaffed and ill distributed to meet demand.įor tech startups looking to cash in on unmet need, that translates into more than 50 million potential customers. experience a form of mental illness, according to federal estimates. In any given year, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. ![]() This story also ran on Los Angeles Times.
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