Speaker
Description
Depression is a complex mental disorder that can be triggered by various mental stresses resulting from negative experiences. It has a significant impact on quality of life and is known to even lead to suicidal impulses. [2] Previous studies have confirmed the association between vitamin D and depression, which has shown a high incidence rate worldwide after the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, research results have shown that vitamin D deficiency can increase the risk of depression, and vitamin D is naturally synthesized when the skin is exposed to UV rays, based on which a functional game is developed as a digital therapeutic that induces outdoor activities to provide preventive and therapeutic effects for depression.
Through this application, users participate in a simple mission game where they go out of the house to find a designated object or text and take a picture. This aims to naturally encourage users to engage in outdoor activities and primarily functions by conducting self-surveys and collecting user data to measure the degree of change in depressive symptoms, thereby identifying whether or not depression has improved, and visualizing this information.
Through daily mission games, users are expected to engage in regular outdoor activities and thus synthesize vitamin D through sun exposure. It is anticipated that this will significantly improve depressive symptoms. Furthermore, by analyzing the collected information, visualized changes in depressive symptoms can be provided to medical institutions for real-time monitoring and medical data analysis. As a result, efficient and effective treatment is expected to be possible, and by demonstrating the effectiveness of symptom improvement to users, it is expected to instill a sense of achievement and trust in treatment.
References
[1] Jaewan Park, Bokgiu Choi, Sangwon Lee, Hyunju Lee. (2020). A Proposal of Emotion Recognition Mobile Application to Improve Depression in Young People. JKCA.2020.20.02.594.
[2] Su Kyung Cho, Sle Koo, Kyong Park. (2014). Vitamin D and Depression. JKFN.2014.43.10.1467
| Keywords | Digital Therapeutics, Serious Game, Depression |
|---|
