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Smartphones To Monitor Schizophrenics
the_newsbeagle writes Psychiatrists have realized that they can collect vast amounts of data about their patients using smartphone apps that passively monitor the patients as they go about their daily business. A prototype for schizophrenia patients is being tested out now on Long Island. The Crosscheck trial will look at behavior patterns (tracking movement, sleep, and conversations) and correlate them with the patient's reports of symptoms and moods; researchers hope the data will reveal the "signature" of a patient who is about relapse and therefore needs help.
Maybe we should have explained to psychiatrists that Is The Government Spying On Schizophrenics Enough? was a joke, not a roadmap.
[David Brent Voice] Words with the same first six letters are synonyms. Fact.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Hah! I'm nicking that.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
They are psychiatrists and yet oblivious to their own word choice pyschology.
researchers hope the data will reveal the "signature" of a patient who is about relapse and therefore needs help.
These people are still human beings with dignity aren't they? or are they just diseased chattled to be mitigated?
How about:
researchers hope the data will reveal the "signature" of a patient who is possibly experiencing symptoms and therefore might want help.
If they understood anything about the patients they are supposedly helping, they would know that your attitude and intentions makes a big damn difference.
Turning off your telescreen, I mean phone, is a sure sign of mental illness. Don't turn off your phone, Mike. Yes you, Mike, I'm talking to you.
Giving a paranoid person a sense s/he is being observed 24/7...
I think it's important to realize here that a lot of people with psychological problems will refuse to get any help if psychiatrists in general are going to insist installing spyware on their wearable electronics. Maybe not so much because they don't trust the psychiatrist with the information, but more because it's relatively easy for others (government, police, spouses and family with technologically smart kids or in general people who don't have the same context as the psychiatrist has on his patient) to peek at the data too. Without a trust-relationship with the psychological helper I'm afraid people with psychological problems will not open up at all and will prefer hiding. Schizophrenia patients (among others) aren't necessarily stupid enough not to understand that monitoring software on their smartphone can and will most likely be abused for completely other purposes than improving the quality of the patient.
As someone who used to answer the 911 psych calls for our volunteer FD in a rural area, a voluntary app like this could be really useful. Where we lived back then first responders were the only regular checks a lot of the psych cases ever got. By the time someone called 911, they were way off the sanity reservation. Then law enforcement got involved and packed them off to primary care. They'd stabilize on their meds, the hospital would cut them loose because they didn't have insurance, sometimes with a couple days worth of meds, and we'd start the cycle all over again. Anything that would alert medical personnel that someone was having a problem and find a way to get them some help before we got a call that they were chasing cows around in the pasture bare ass naked would be a good thing.
I learned that rural areas are full of crazy people because the cost of living is lower and they could be crazy and not bother as many people. It was kind of surprising to find out how many of our neighbors were genuinely, seriously out there howling at the moon loony tunes (technical medical jargon).
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Don't phones already monitor schizophrenics? And satellites. And TVs. And the radio. And the people on the bus. And dental fillings. And the neighbours dog. They're all monitoring 24/7.
And they are.
Um, not to be an ass, but a schizophrenic is someone who is suffering the symptoms of schizophrenia in a major way. When we're stable we simply suffer from schizophrenia. If someone is schizophrenic they definitely need to be hospitalized, but if it's just schizophrenia, not so much.
Doesn't our government do that already?
I have a few szo relatives. The onion nailed it. The paranoia of hidden cameras and whispers leading to hidden cameras and whispers.
This will only fuel the fire of paranoid schizophrenics.
If you're not schizophrenic, you're not paying attention.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It seems to me that installing a tracker device would not benefit those with paranoid schizophreny, but rather exacerbate their condition. Such a devie would render me paranoid.
DICE SUCKS!!! I are mAked gramor aNd SpellIng mistaKS FOR NAJIS!!! RATE ME TROLLS!
It already takes a lot of work to convince paranoid schizophrenics to trust their psychiatrist enough to open up to him. And now that person who they finally tentatively trust should start to do exactly what the patients think their "enemies" are doing to them?
Really? That's a good idea?
I guess I'm further from understanding the human psyche and psychology altogether than I thought...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Is blocking app permissions seen as a sign of relapse for paranoid schizophrenics?
That'll go over well with the paranoid schizophrenics.
911 operator: "Yes, sir, your phone is watching you."
I thought that was what library cards was for.
Can I put this on my coworker's phone?
Android is by design, a single user OS.
Note: I live in rural North East England. I have Schizophrenia. My meds and social care are provided for free by the NHS (National Health Service).
Care in the community is provided by NHS staff (Consultant Psychiatrists, Mental Health Nurses, (Approved or Standard) Social Workers and Project Workers) in a team called the "Community Assertive Outreach Team". In theory through regular contact between staff and patients (called clients these days), staff intervene before people totally lose the plot.
My point is this: smartphone monitoring should supplement, not replace, Care in the Community.
Yep, thats a good way to treat paranoid prosecutory delusions, actually start prosecuting them, so that its not a delusion any more
Try to get a paranoid schizophrenic to carry a phone that collects his information. Obviously you would have to weld the smartphone to the guy as it is the very first thing he would focus on getting out of his life. A substantial number of mental patients feel that nothing at all is wrong with them or that they just have an insignificant, tiny, issue.
... so a black van can roll up, grab them, and cart them away.
I refuse to sign
The headline here should read "People WITH Schizophrenia". Because even though they have a significant mental illness they are still people and not one dimensional characters. Also, I somehow doubt you'll get a bunch of people with paranoia going along with this.
Newsflash, shrinks: Smartphones are already monitoring everyone. For more than one party, including pre-crime predictors and predictive programmers, and schizzies are not the only programmatically predictable, so best mind your P's an Q's.
Maybe someone non-spook needs to monitor mental health contractors and politicians?
In other news, Goggle announces compact fMRI scanners to be integrated into their popular Goggle(tm) cyborg assisted living accessory.
n/t
You can't, use commas properly.
Problem is they need to carry both an Android and Apple phone....
When my schizophrenic brother was having his attacks, he used to think the wiring in the walls, appliances, metal shelves, silverware, anything metal was either talking to him (bleed-through he calls it) or emitting radiation. Several violent episodes where this went on and on.
So during an episode, pretty much the first thing he'd do was throw all these items out in the yard and break his cellphone in half. You'd know for sure he was having issues was when the phone went dead.
Lost an iPhone and several flip phones that way. I ended up getting him a Blackberry. They are cheap on eBay. No other reason. He can trash them all he wants.
By the way, it turns out most appliances don't like being thrown out in the yard. This illness is incredibly destructive to the people involved and to their property.
Governments have realized that they can collect vast amounts of data about their citizens using smartphone apps that passively monitor the citizens as they go about their daily business. A prototype for opponents is planned to be tested out soon on Long Island. The Tia trial will look at behavior patterns (tracking movement, sleep, and conversations) and correlate them with data gathered from past opponents; researchers hope the data will reveal the "signature" of a citizen who is about fall off the one true path and therefore needs help.
Da Blog
This will fix their paranoia for sure.
So I don't know what you're talking about.
Am I the only one being forced to beta with this particular article? I had to mess with it to get in classic mode.
Google, the NSA, and others have realized that they can collect vast amounts of data about people using smartphone apps that passively monitor them as they go about their daily business
FTFY
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He's Republican or even worse, Libertarian. The craziness is just a side effect of drinking all that koolaid!
Are you saying that THC causes the episode to get worse? I don't think I've ever heard that before.
Just like you do on /. gotcha!
For the record i find this disgusting. Given that "treatment" for schizophrenia is often given involuntarily i can imagine people being forced to be involved in this program. It's an complete infringement on a persons privacy. It's bad enough that the doctors have no idea how to fix the problem other than prescribing pills which cause significant side effects possibly even causing long term damage, it's bad enough that the hospitals keep data on record for years without the patients consent. This program should be shut down because because the powers that be cant be trusted. I propose that whoever is making this app be monitored 24/7 and whoever approves of using this app should have their lives monitored 24/7 too. Maybe then the fucker thats making the thing will have second thoughts about what he/she is doing.
I've been fucking your mother, and we've been talking about throwing you out of the basement so we can make it into a sex dungeon. What do you think?
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