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Post by ryanavery on Aug 31, 2017 15:35:19 GMT -4
As many people are on social media posting pictures of themselves and the lives they're living, virtually nonstop, any program that could help contribute to diagnosing a mental health problem such as depression would be a good step forward for medicine. As depressed people tend to seclude themselves from the world they once frequented, it can be hard for people to pick up on red flags, especially for people who may know what they are going through, but feel ashamed for feeling the way they do and thus do not seek help. Any step toward opening peoples eyes toward a serious problem that affects a large population of people is an achievement, but ultimately can't be relied on alone, when a minority group isn't on social media or may not post like others do. In the future it could be a nice tool in conjunction with traditional interview methods.
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Post by Raza Kazmi on Sept 4, 2017 20:52:51 GMT -4
I think it would be awesome to be able to detect depression based on someone's instagram post. But I also feel like we would be looking for problems that maybe we shouldn't be. Who says there is a causal relationship between someone's instagram posts and depression? It could easily just be correlational. As in other aspects of medicine, you don't screen everyone. The more you screen, the more you find possible diagnoses that you have to rule out. Sure, I understand that if you find people with depression, you can help them, but that doesn't mean it's logical and viable or even necessary. And at the end of it all, is that person even depressed or were they just into dark filters that month?
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Post by cemsarihan on Sept 8, 2017 1:16:04 GMT -4
The article was an interesting read however I was more surprised at the statistic they gave regarding U.S adults and depression. I would have thought the number of people affected by depression in the United States would be much higher than 7 percent. As people get older the risk of depression would also get higher. I would also suspect that majority of social media users suffer from some form of depression as they are attention seeking and looking for approval from strangers. Blue and darker colors have always been symbolic for sadness so it is not surprising to learn this computer algorithm is looking for similar colors in social media photography. In general even if colors were not used I would think the computer program would still have a good probability of identifying instagram users just from random selection.
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Post by Sagar Vinayak on Sept 8, 2017 15:28:54 GMT -4
After carefully reading this article i've come to the conclusion that trying to diagnose depression through Instagram is putting a person at risk. For example if a user puts up a few pictures reflecting on his mood for that week it may necessarily not mean that the person feels like that for the remaining weeks or even month. Instagram is a way for people to post pictures of their daily activities or a one in a life time vacation they went on to show their 'followers' what they have done in their past, present or future to come. By posting a grey, blue or black picture may not necessarily mean the person is feeling down in any way. People are looking to closely at how to diagnosis rather then manage a disease. By this method I feel like constantly screening for depression could give a lot of false positive results, resulting in inaccurate diagnosis's. By this method if you diagnosis depression based off pictures this may lead to wrong medication being prescribed and could cause problems later on in the future of that individual. Overall, trying to diagnose someone over Instagram sounds like a good idea but in the future may have high potential risks.
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Post by Denis Verem on Sept 13, 2017 20:19:53 GMT -4
People use Instagram in many ways, and there are all kinds of people who use this platform. The multitude of reasons and ways to use this platform can skew the diagnostic ability that this article portrays. I find this claim in the article to be much older than Instagram itself, associations between mood and colour have existed much longer than the platform itself. Even Picasso had his blue period which signified a depressed stage in his life. If this program has the necessary statistical proof to be valid and reviewed adequately I would support its use as a tool to help physicians, but not something to be used as a sole diagnostic criteria. Depression is a serious illness and if this can help in earlier diagnoses it would be extremely beneficial for patients. But for it to be accepted in its applicatory claim it should go through stringent scrutiny and its experiments should be peer reviewed in such things like the Cochrane database.
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Post by Erica De Clemente on Sept 15, 2017 16:52:06 GMT -4
I found this article to be very interesting. The use of dark filters and the appearance of fewer faces in pictures has never occurred to me as being a sign of depression. However, now that it has been brought to my attention, I definitely agree. I have a family member that posts multiple pictures on Instagram per day. All of her pictures have dark filters and her face is hidden in most of them. This goes along with the points made in the article. As it turns out, she was recently diagnosed with depression. I am interested to see further studies regarding this topic.
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Post by Jazmine Ramsay on Sept 15, 2017 18:33:42 GMT -4
I am not surprised by the high sensitivity rate of this screening technique. Throughout history darker, more dreary colors have been associated with darker moods. Of course some people just prefer these colors and it doesn't mean anything to them, but chances are these people are still not the bright and cheery type. I think that the use of such technology might make these people uneasy due to feelings of invasion of privacy and solitude. I expect that about half of the depressed people on social post things as a release, not necessarily to be heard, while the other half posts as a cry for help. For those that post in search of assistance I believe this technology would be helpful because they can be targeted and have someone actually reach out to them in their time of need. I do foresee a lot of people being taken aback if their page was flagged as one from a depressed person when in fact they were not. But I think the outcome of this has the potential to ultimately be more good than bad.
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Post by William Haffner on Sept 15, 2017 20:45:15 GMT -4
I really enjoy reading about new ways to incorporate technology in diagnosing and treating patients. This article is a great example of how social media can be used to identify patients at risk for depression. In this digital age that we live in, we must continue to find new ways to combat illnesses, and this is a step in the right direction. The color theory has been around for a long time now. Marketers use this to their advantage by strategically placing certain colors in ads and symbols to illicit certain emotions from us which in turn makes us want to buy whatever they are selling. It’s interesting to see that our organic emotions can inspire our color choices. I wonder if this theory can be used in a clinical setting to diagnose and track the progression of certain psychiatric disorders. Having people send in weekly pictures of themselves or have digital color tests might be a way to help diagnose and treat patients in the future.
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Post by suzannehauams3 on Sept 15, 2017 22:41:04 GMT -4
There is no question about it, social media is becoming a part of every aspect of our lives. The notion of screening or diagnosing with Instagram isn't that far of a jump from WebMD access and the various tools patients are accessing before and after seeking medical care. It is interesting that physician's identify depression approximately 42% of the time versus the analysis via Instagram at 70%. After interviewing patients at PACT, Atlanta,LLC for the past 3 weeks...I am pretty confident we are learning great skills to assess patients for depression, by the low tech method of listening.
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Post by Blessing Osa on Sept 20, 2017 22:10:43 GMT -4
Very interesting article, this might be helpful in detecting patients that are yet to be diagnosed, According to Anxiety and Depression of America “The leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.3. MDD affects more than 16.1 million American adults, or about 6.7%of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. While major depressive disorder can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32.5 years old. More prevalent in women than in men.” And about 80% of individuals affected by depression do not receive any treatment or unware. But the feasibility of social media based assessment of depression raises numerous ethical questions regarding Privacy. Employers may use this information against patients suffering from mental illness.
Since screening for depression involves multiple steps, therefore social media diagnosing of depression base color of picture posted in social media are not sufficient.
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Post by Renee Frederick on Sept 20, 2017 22:53:37 GMT -4
This article was an interesting read and while I agree with some parts of it, I do disagree with some points. I, for one, love to post pictures especially on Instagram. I also love the fact that I have a myriad of filters to choose from when editing my pictures. I love the classic look that “Moon”, “Willow” and “Inkwell” give my portraits. Colors of gray and white or black white gives such a professional artistic look. It is no secret that depression is plaguing our society, however, to assume and conclude that darker and dull photos equate to depression is a little over the top. I can always tell when someone is going through a breakup or a tough time based on their comments, captions and statuses. I can agree with photos accompanied by thought provoking depressing captions reveals underlying depression. This method of analysis seems rather inclusive than conclusive which is great actually. I would rather assume that one was depressed and then find out that they were not that to miss someone with depression entirely. After analyzing dark, dull pictures another selection criteria need to be in placed to further narrow down and pin point actual depressed individuals. I agree with the article about looking for specific symptoms such as loss of interest, fatigue, and weight loss in conjunction with blue, black and grey pictures.
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omon
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Post by omon on Sept 24, 2017 13:33:08 GMT -4
This article was interesting. Color can definitely be a indicator in the expression of mood. More interestingly, the article points to the use of technology and social media for those who might not seek help sooner. Perhaps social media can be a tool as screenings for those experiencing depression and perhaps helping those to seek treatment. Social media can be an outlet for individual to either project or displace how they are feeling. This can be can be either a good tool or not so good tool in my opinion. Perhaps individual can utilize support groups. On the other hand, as the article states over reliance on social media can hinder one from seeking face to face support services. Rather, using technology can be better developed as screening tools perhaps in how individuals express themselves and educating themselves in the process on treatment and prevention. Also public awareness through social media can also be use as indicators for education and increased awareness.
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Post by lois olumuyiwa on Sept 25, 2017 19:53:07 GMT -4
This was indeed very interesting and insightful and though i'm not a psychiatrist, neither am i depressed but i could really relate to this article and understand where the writer was coming from. I, myself, have seen many posts on Instagram which suggest the owner of the account might be depressed, from the captions used under their posts to the pictures which sometimes might be quotes suggesting death or feeling of hopelessness. We live in a time where twenty people could be seated in a room and rather than interact with each other, everyone is engrossed in their phones so it only makes sense and is perfectly understandable why someone would rather post depressive pictures or quotes rather than talk to a friend or seek help. If indeed this computer program can detect depressed people accurately then that's very impressive and would be of great benefit to both the patients and the doctors as this will help in making a better diagnoses. However, of course deeper investigation and interviews should be held between the patients and the doctors to conclude on this diagnosis as i wouldn't advise it be made solely on the opinion of a computer program.
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Post by IsacOscig on Jan 24, 2022 17:57:00 GMT -4
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Post by IsacOscig on Jan 24, 2022 17:58:01 GMT -4
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