Mental health and tech: what role can IP play?

Rapid technological advances have exerted positive and negative effects on our mental health, so how can the law and IP help swing the pendulum in favour of the former, asks Alex Gardiner of EIP.

Technology is, more than ever, a fundamental part of the world we live in. Phones and computers are practically ubiquitous, and we simply cannot ignore the ways that our increased use of, and reliance on, technology affects our mental health.  

This cannot be said too often: systemic inequality and prejudice play by far the greatest role in mental health inequality on local and global scales. Technological advances in the field carry these issues with them.  

As technology advances, and sophisticated communications devices have become more commonplace, sufferers from poor mental health have increasingly turned to technological solutions to the problems we deal with day to day. This has become more readily observable with the lockdowns imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unable to conduct face-to-face sessions, people turned to Zoom calls and apps, seeking a way to further their recovery journeys through technological means.