Every year, on October 10, “Mental Health Day” is commemorated worldwide with the purpose of making well-being a priority for all. According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), one in five workers suffers from a problem related to this, and in the face of these problems, technology companies are generating some responses.
Apple releases new songs for Mental Health
Work stress is one of the conditions that most affects people’s mental health and for this reason, through its Apple Music service, the company from Cupertino, California, made available the Spatial Audio EP “Neurotransmiters”, which consists of seven original songs composed by various artists to convey relaxation.
Its purpose is to “induce a positive feeling in the audience, such as happiness, motivation, peace and joy; bearing by title a name inspired by the neurotransmitters that interact in our brains when we experience the aforementioned emotions, ”says the company in a statement. To listen to the new Apple Music EP, just click here: “”.
Some of the artists who participated in the generation of this content are the Jalisco producer Ruth de las Plantas, with the theme “Eucalyptus (Norepinephrine)”, which, in her words “is the narration of my own experience with the improvement process of my mental health during a period in which I experienced the effects of a lack of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. The beat runs through my timeline from fatigue to recovery.”
Another Mexican artist who participates is SpoonBeats with the song “Reason”, a song he made with the concept of happiness in mind. The musician said he wanted the song to convey “that dopamine rush when you feel high. So much of our daily lives revolve around dopamine, but I decided to focus on the importance of pure joy, as that is what I want to spread to every corner of the world.”
According to a report prepared in 2020 by in the United States, it found a close relationship between music and emotional well-being, the reduction of anxiety and stress and the generation of a more positive mood.
On the other hand, a report by Spotify highlights that mental health, the main podcast genre of generation Z globally, saw a 46% increase in the number of reproductions during the first quarter of 2022 compared to last year. .
In fact, 56% of 18-24 year olds in Mexico indicated that they turn to podcasts to get answers to difficult or personal questions before talking to their families about it, and 69% of the same group indicated that they listen to podcasts to count the conversations they have with their friends
Google and its improved assistant to handle cases
Mental Health care has been a priority for organizations such as the United Nations or the World Health Organization (WHO) since the early 2000s, seeking to prevent, treat and identify emotional or behavioral disorders that may have an impact on the people’s well-being.
According to WHO figures, anxiety and depression disorders increased by more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic and health services, when interrupted, generated problems for the treatment of these people and those who already had a condition. to attend to
These disorders sometimes end in suicide, which represents the fourth leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 29 worldwide, according to the organization.
Given this data, Google realized that more and more people use their Assistant to get help coping with anxiety and feelings of loneliness. In fact, the company reports that in Spanish-speaking Latino countries, twice as many people have expressed feeling lonely, while those who are sad increased by 25% since September 2019.
For this reason and based on the aforementioned figures, the Google Assistant Personality team worked so that the voice assistant provides better answers to queries related to emotional well-being, through advice and other coping mechanisms, which were validated by licensed therapists. This improves on previous responses the assistant gave when someone claimed they were sad or lonely.
While we hope these responses raise awareness of recommendations to help with emotional well-being, they certainly shouldn’t replace expert help. These are designed to give people quick and useful access to information, especially when they need it most.
New generations use technology for mental health
Although they have harmful effects on the mental health of users and can even become , they can also have a positive impact on this aspect if you know where to look or follow the right accounts.
Many creators are also generating content in this regard in a responsible manner, as they are specialists who have found a way to transmit their knowledge to their followers on these platforms.
To identify the creators who deliver quality content, they place their credentials in the biographies so that users value their training and experience in the medium. In addition, they usually cite scientific sources that endorse their recommendations in a responsible manner, that is, they contrast them and analyze them in depth to find out if these studies are really significant.
