It is not just an effect derived from the pandemic. The social, mobility and isolation restrictions imposed by the pandemic have only made visible a latent problem worldwide. The increase in the prevalence of disorders related to mental health in the general population has been triggered by the pandemic, but it has come a long way. In Spain alone, it is estimated that the mental health of a large part of the Spanish population is at risk. It all adds up: pandemic, wars, rising inflation, anxiety about not making ends meet, etc. In the UK, a recent study has linked postcode and gender to an increased risk of depressive disorders. The study shows that living in a disadvantaged area is a relevant factor for suffering from depressive disorders, but that this factor has a higher incidence in men than in women.

ZIP code may be one factor in putting a person at risk for depression, but it’s not the only one. The increase in the prevalence of mental health is also focused on young and well-prepared groups, such as doctorate students and graduate students in general. A recent editorial in Nature puts the alert on the need to take care of the mental health of doctoral students and young researchers. The long working hours, the anxiety to publish and obtain external funds for research, and the pressure to reach a permanent position at the university as professors or researchers are factors that make this group very vulnerable.

The accumulation of individual and environmental factors mentioned above give an idea of how complex it is to diagnose and prevent depressive disorders. It is not a single dominant factor, but a complex interaction of many factors that all influence whether a person has a higher or lower risk of mental health disorders.

The technology is an aid for the monitoring and detection of mental health symptoms through the concept of digital phenotyping. To understand this concept, let’s look at its parts and how they interact with each other. According to Wikipedia, phenotype is the set of observable characteristics of an organism. It is distinguished from the genetic code of an organism, called genotype, in that the phenotype is the result of the expression or visible manifestation of genes, added to the influence of environmental factors. Our eye color, height, and behaviour are the product of genetics, the environment we live in, and the interaction between the two.

Unlike any other animal, humans are capable of digitally leaving traces of our interaction with the environment and the influence of the environment on us. As Jame Comey, former FBI director, said, “our phones and computers have become reflections of our personalities, our interests, and our identities. They hold much that is important to us”. GPS location and movement, battery recharge frequency, voice and speech patterns, frequency of our calls, or the number of times we access apps or social services and networks, are data that build up our digital phenotyping.

In the field of mental health, the use of smartphones and wearable devices leave a digital trail that forms our unique digital phenotyping which, in the hands of the mental health research community, provide clues to infer our behaviours, emotions, feelings and, ultimately, early detect symptoms and prevent mental health disorders. That’s one means, among others, to help decrease the growing prevalence of mental health throughout the world.