When you search for a medical condition online, would you also want to take a test for it then and there? Google has announced plans to offer people in the US searching for 鈥渄epression鈥� a clinically validated questionnaire so they can find out if they may have the condition. But then what?
鈥淭his sounds like a really good idea that can quickly help people work out whether they are having low moods or feeling blue, [or if they] may have more serious and enduring problems that could be alleviated by seeking help,鈥� says Marjorie Wallace, of the UK mental health charity . 鈥淥ur concern [however] is that raising expectations of help can be disappointing.鈥� In places where access to therapy is hard to come by, a questionnaire may offer little comfort.
Google has partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) 鈥� a US advocacy group for those affected by mental illness 鈥� to provide a link to a depression questionnaire at the top of the search results for terms related to depression.
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In an announcement , NAMI states that the results of the self-assessment can form the first step towards a diagnosis, and help people have a more informed conversation with their doctor.
Screening for depression
One in five people in the US will experience depression in their lifetime, but only half will receive treatment, typically around seven years after symptoms appear. The questionnaire provided by NAMI will be 鈥淧HQ-9鈥�, which is used routinely by family doctors to gauge a person鈥檚 mental state.
The test asks people to score how often they are affected by things such as sleeping problems or thoughts of self-harm. NAMI is keen to point out that the PHQ-9 isn鈥檛 intended to be used in isolation as the sole tool for diagnosis of clinical depression, but to guide users towards reliable healthcare information.
While PHQ-9 is well-regarded as a diagnostic tool, it needs to be applied repeatedly and regularly to give a meaningful picture, says Simon Gilbody at the University of York in the UK. And there isn鈥檛 good evidence that widespread testing for depression is a good idea. 鈥淩andomised control trials have shown that screening for depression doesn鈥檛 improve outcomes for patients,鈥� he says.
That鈥檚 likely because without the resources to provide treatment, better diagnosis doesn鈥檛 translate into better care. For this reason, the UK鈥檚 National Screening Committee has repeatedly rejected proposals to screen for depression. 鈥淸In the UK], we do not have sufficient skilled therapists and there are unforgivably long waiting times in mental health services,鈥� says Wallace.
Tech boom
Tech companies are coming under pressure to help those who may be at risk of suicide. Google searches for suicide methods recently spiked following the debut of 13 Reasons Why, a Netflix series centred around a teenage girl鈥檚 suicide. Earlier this year, Facebook revealed that it was working on ways to automatically detect users at high risk of self-harm and alert their friends or its community operations team.
At the same time, there has been a tech boom in the mental healthcare industry, as companies scramble to offer cognitive behavioural therapy apps, online therapist appointments and patient support networks. However, by Gilbody and his colleagues found that online therapy for depression is no more effective than GP treatment.
Nevertheless, Wallace still thinks Google鈥檚 plans are worthwhile. 鈥淪ANE believes that knowledge, however limited, can help people make better decisions about their lives.鈥�
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