The Coronavirus-led pandemic has locked down most of the population of the world. Now, recent survey data reveals that the level of people suffering from clinical anxiety has increased by many folds. So, to help detect anxiety symptoms and deal with stress, Google has come up with a new tool integrated right in the Google Search for US citizens.
The Mountain View-based tech giant recently partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to create a tool to help people facing questions about their mental health. Although it is not a replacement for a diagnosis by a professional mental health expert, it might help people self-assess for any symptoms of clinical anxiety.
Now, the tool created by Google works right in the search results in the US. Whenever anyone makes a search for anxiety-related queries, the tool will show up in the "knowledge panel" of the search results. This will contain a "clinically validated questionnaire" known as the GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7).
Now, the GAD-7 is a seven-question survey covering questions related to anxiety disorder in people. These questions are pretty similar to the questions a mental health expert might ask during a diagnosis. This form helps people to understand their current state of mental health as it compares the answers of the user with answers of other respondents to come up with a result.
Once the screening process is complete, the tool will also provide access to resources that are developed by NAMI to treat mental illness and seek help when needed.
We saw a similar move by Reddit a few months back. Adobe also came up with a free coloring book to help users deal with stress while locked down in their homes.
Now, this tool by Google and NAMI is currently available in the US only. There is no news if the company will introduce it to other countries. However, personally, I think it is a great tool, and Google should introduce it to other countries as well.
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