A computer as a therapist?

How can a computer become a therapist? Lately computers are doing everything and for people that are unable to afford a traditional therapist, having a program on your computer may be one of the best inventions ever. A therapist is there to help you with emotional issues and many other things but if you can have this type of "person" there to help you all the time it might be easy for you to find a way to overcome some of the obstacles and things that are plaguing you in your life.

MIT Media Lab is currently working on this large project and they are confident in their abilities and feel that they will be able to create such a program. The program is in the development stages so it will be a long time before you will see it in your home but it is working with scientists and doctors to detect a number of things in your personality. Some of the recognition software that it comes with include the way you feel. The software will be able to detect if you are awkward, disconnected, anxious, depressed, stressed, and just about every other emotion out there. It is a great way to help you understand the emotions but to also find a way to talk through them as well. It works like that of speech recognition software how it converts what you say to the written word but instead it will be able to convert information into emotions and feelings. This allows the program to detect what is wrong and will help you to find ways to understand why you feel the way you do. How does the program do it? They are using it to look at the way you talk and the variations in your speech will help the program to understand what you are feeling. It is a technological breakthrough and a great way for computers to interact and help you understand more about yourself.

Some of the things the program will look for include the sharpness in your speech. Several researchers and scientists have been able to detect that when a person is upset or depressed they usually speak very slowly and often quietly. Some of them don't really have a tone to their voice at all. This type of speech will allow the computer to quickly say "you are sad" and then it will kick into a program to help you get to the bottom of these feelings and really will help you confront them.

Anyone that is dealing with chronicle depression or bipolar disorder may be able to find this new program very effective and one of the best things ever. It can help you when you start to feel like you are in despair and moving toward life threatening depression. One of the other nice things about the software is that you can collaborate with your traditional therapist so you can discuss those days when you were a little off and the therapist can alter the program and help it to find a way to get you through those relapses.

The symptoms of depression are often hard to detect and the patients suffering from depression are very good at hiding the symptoms as well. This is why a program at home is a great idea because your computer will recognize all those fluctuations in your voice that don't always come through when you are on the phone. If anything else, this program will aid in the collection of data so we can gather more information about depression and mental illness and hopefully find a way to help those that are suffering to overcome it.