Research centre to explore the benefits of technology on mental health

Facebook’s effects on social isolation in rural areas will be just one of the many areas the Young and Well Co-operative Research Centre will explore.

Source: AP

VIDEO games, smartphone apps and Facebook may be the next big things in the fight against mental health problems for youth.

A game to train mental fitness and others to help engage the disabled and mental health sufferers in practising life skills on computer screens will be among the first technologies explored by the Young and Well Co-operative Research Centre.

YAWCRC, which opens in Melbourne today, will also explore Facebook’s effects on social isolation in rural areas.

The centre has more than $114.5 million in funding and will explore tracking technology, like that used on Facebook, for suggesting mental healthcare options to appeal to binge drinking, unstable or depressed youth.

Chief executive Jane Burns said advancing technology and improved internet access had to be seized on.

“Phone apps and social networking have taken off and in a year’s time there will be technology emerging that we will need to take stock of and work with right away,” Dr Burns said.

But video games are one of the main interest areas.

“Games give you amazing storylines and you can practise things with no real world consequences,” she said.

“There’s evidence that if you can build up skills in the online environment they can transfer across into your offline world.”

Former Australian of the Year and mental health specialist Patrick McGorry said the medical community would be watching the centre’s discoveries.

Around 300 researchers will work with Google, Facebook and Yahoo!7.

Article source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/video-games-to-help-real-life-skills/story-fn7x8me2-1226217662443