Long-Range Treatment for Depression

Much present-day technology originated in a NASA program. A recent example is the iShoe designed to improve balance in order to prevent falls, Now there’s the possibility that the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) will provide NASA with multi-media programs to help astronauts recognize and manage depression and other psychological problems.

Treatment – cognitive behavioral therapy – is already provided by phone or video-conferencing after initial meetings with a psychotherapist. The NSBRI approach is being tested in the Virtual Space Station, to see whether the so-called Problem-Solving Treatment is applicable to long-range (millions of miles) distances.

Twenty-nine current and former astronauts have provided input to the programmers. The system will be portable, and will ensure privacy – an essential for the therapy of psychological problems. The first step is making a problem list and selecting the a problem to work on. Next comes goal-setting and brainstorming on approaches. Finally, pros and cons of possible solutions are evaluated, and an action plan is developed. Doesn’t sound like a typical visit to the psychotherapist, but it may work better than the present methods. Anyhow, the idea of never actually having to talk to a ‘shrink’ may appeal to some potential patients. We shall see.

The developers of the system promise that it will be ‘portable’ to non-astronaut subjects, and, if so, it might well prove a boon to people in remote situations – e.g. scientists at the South Pole. And if it works there, maybe it could work in the home, at the PC station.