Articles Comments

Connected Health » Apps, CHS news, Health Gadgets, iPad/tablet PC apps, Mental Health, Mobile Phone Apps » Whats MyM3 tries (and fails) to identify mental health issues

Whats MyM3 tries (and fails) to identify mental health issues

We’ve come across a few apps and services in the last few months that claim they can spot signs of mental health within users. You should check out our recent posts on Buddy and Mindbloom. Well now we can add another to the list – iOS app Whats MyM3.

WhatsMyM3 is available as a mobile app ($2.99 for iPhone, iPad and Android), or free on the Web. M3Clinician is a version for physicians.

The medical team behind the Whats MyM3 says it can tell if you’re at increased risk for depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

WhatsMyM3 helps adults, whether in treatment or not, “monitor their own symptoms and have a view of what’s going on” in terms of mood and anxiety.

As cynical as we are, right now?

Here’s the bit we really don’t like. Apps are all about simplicity so wait till you hear this – all three versions of Whats MyM3 use a 27-item questionnaire. Responses generate an individual score; 33 or greater indicates a significant risk of mood and anxiety disorders. Four sub-scores reflect risk for each of the four major conditions.

There are not many occasions where we don’t like an app or service, but Whats MyM3 is certainly one of those. The price of the app is high and the way in which it goes about scoring your mental health is ridiculously complicated. For me, simply filling in a questionnaire and then reading a score to find out whether you have one of the conditions Whats MyM3 claims to uncover is bordering on embarrassing.

Steer clear.

Filed under: Apps, CHS news, Health Gadgets, iPad/tablet PC apps, Mental Health, Mobile Phone Apps · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Reply

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.