FDA approves first app-based treatment for major depressive disorder

FDA approves first app-based treatment for major depressive disorder
https://time.com/7086622/depression-treatment-app-rejoyn/

The app, called Rejoyn, is cleared as a supplement to currently approved therapies and works by using specifically designed tasks on a smartphone app to rewire neural signals. The idea is to tap into the brain’s circuits so depressive signals and pathways don’t spiral into the debilitating emotional episodes typical of clinical depression.

 

I didn't have this future on my bingo card: old pseudoscientific bullshit delivered through 21st century technology. This is the weirdest combo ever. I kind of expected that getting to the future would involve some level of getting dumber because we get wiser but this is a bit extreme.

I'm trying to find the paper providing the evidence but it looks unpublished. The FDA application (https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf23/K231209.pdf) has a bunch of data but the only published paper is the protocol: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11372332/.

The basis of the claim is so-called neuroplasticity, which in the context of the app is roughly described as the basic concepts of thinking and learning, or more generically as practicing something. So I guess the idea is that you can think/learn your way out of something labeled depression. So practice not being unhappy and you will become happy. Or maybe answer questions differently when prompted with constant reminders that your responses reflect your progress. Or whatever.

Most absurd to me is that this will require a prescription. I guess this is to inflate what they believe is the 'white coat' effect, which if it worked, literally any gadget or sham procedure would. But whatever.

The future of healthcare: the bizarre ideas of pre-science magical woowoo combined with the cutting edge technology of the 21st century, now delivered at gigabit speeds on handheld computers with 1000x the computing power that NASA used to go to the Moon and back. What a time to be alive.

 

If you were not depressed before hand understanding the incompetence of government agencies should leave feeling very unhappy .

 

Gaslightspeed.