So many people have mental illnesses that online therapy is the only way to give everyone the treatment they need, experts say.
Chatbots, apps and virtual reality should be the default treatment for people with conditions ranging from depression to psychosis, according to researchers meeting today at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Florence.
Rates of mental illness appear to be increasing as stress and family breakdown take their toll and technology is the only plausible solution, said Michael Krausz of the University of British Columbia, and an “e-mental health” adviser to the World Psychiatric Association.
He will tell the congress that it is unaffordable to provide face-to-face help for everyone who needs it and doctors need to make better use of computer therapy, even