A New Characterization of Mental Health Disorders Using Digital Behavioral Data: Evidence from Major Depressive Disorder

Dekel Taliaz, Daniel Souery, Dekel Taliaz, Daniel Souery

Abstract

Mental health disorders are ambiguously defined and diagnosed. The established diagnosis technique, which is based on structured interviews, questionnaires and data subjectively reported by the patients themselves, leaves the mental health field behind other medical areas. We support these statements with examples from major depressive disorder (MDD). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project in 2009 as a new framework to investigate psychiatric pathologies from a multidisciplinary point of view. This is a good step in the right direction. Contemporary psychiatry considers mental illnesses as diseases that manifest in the mind and arise from the brain, expressed as a behavioral condition; therefore, we claim that these syndromes should be characterized primarily using behavioral characteristics. We suggest the use of smartphones and wearable devices to passively collect quantified behavioral data from patients by utilizing digital biomarkers of mental disorder symptoms. Various digital biomarkers of MDD symptoms have already been detected, and apps for collecting this longitudinal behavioral data have already been developed. This quantified data can be used to determine a patient's diagnosis and personalized treatment, and thereby minimize the diagnosis rate of comorbidities. As there is a wide spectrum of human behavior, such a fluidic and personalized approach is essential.

Keywords: Research Domain Criteria; digital biomarkers; digital phenotyping; major depressive disorder; personalized psychiatry.

Conflict of interest statement

Dekel Taliaz is the founder and CEO of Taliaz, and reports stock ownership in Taliaz. Daniel Souery is on the scientific advisory board of Taliaz and has received consulting fees from Taliaz.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stages toward a paradigm shift: (a) Today, established diagnoses of mental disorders are based on interviews. Different disciplines (smaller circles) are investigated separately. Some of those investigated areas contribute (unidirectional dashed arrows) to the diagnosis. (b) At the first stage, behavioral data should become the field’s pillar. Data from other relevant areas (smaller circles) will be cross-referenced (dashed bidirectional arrows) with behavioral data. (c) At the second stage, a substantial understanding of the behavioral component could lead to finding correlations (red lines) between behavioral markers and markers from other areas (smaller circles). This would promote crosstalk (dashed bidirectional arrows) between the different areas and consequently expand our knowledge in those areas.

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