New technologies and mental health: breaking down barriers

That new technologies have revolutionized the world we live in is undeniable, and no one questions that they provide a multitude of innovative tools to all areas.

We are more connected, we share information consciously and unconsciously, and all that information allows different people in various parts of the world work for the same projects and collaborate so that knowledge is spread.

In the field of healthSpecifically, this translates into international research and intervention projects, program ideas and ways of working that are imported from one area to another, in tools that are created to facilitate the dissemination of healthy habits and knowledge to the population, and thousands of data that is used to try to better understand people's real habits and predict possible incidents (diseases, behaviors, etc.).

• Related article: "Apps for psychologists: 10 tools that you cannot miss on your smartphone"

Technological development as potential for mental health

Mental health is still a taboo subject on many levels and it is often difficult to enter these areas of technology where privacy appears to be compromised. Nevertheless,

technology also has a lot to contribute to mental health, as in the rest of the health fields.

More and more professionals are taking advantage of the opportunities that technology offers us to improve research, intervention and outreach in mental health. This has been verified in the past IV National Congress of Psychology, in which multiple presentations and round tables were reserved around mobile applications, patient management and monitoring tools, intervention tools, information analysis using big data... Opening the door to new ways of working for mental health professionals.

The I Ibero-American Congress on Cyberpsychology

Within this framework, and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by being globally connected, This year the I Ibero-American Congress on Cyberpsychology was held, in which professionals from different countries discuss psychology in the communication age. Some of the topics addressed have been online therapy, Internet-based interventions for depression treatments, the use of technology to addiction treatment, platforms for mental health professionals, or new problems arising from a digital society, among others.

The main objective of the congress is to bring mental health professionals closer to the state of the art in this still little-known area. The Congress took place between November 11 and 15 in streaming.

Here we have already spoken on several occasions about the tool for the management of psychological care centers PsicoReg. On the occasion of this Congress, on November 19 at 3:30 p.m. a workshop was held in which said platform in detail. We believe that the presentation is of great interest to psychologists who read us, so a good part of it is available here: