Dr Prakriti Poddar, Managing Trustee, Poddar Foundation & Advisor RoundGlass Wellbeing Pvt Ltd
Evolving technologies are important to facilitate things, but they must be leveraged in a prudent manner…Technologies are like a double-edged sword for mental health. Increasing use of technology has strained interpersonal relationships, said Dr Prakriti Poddar, Managing Trustee, Poddar Foundation & Advisor, RoundGlass Wellbeing Pvt Ltd, at e-India Innovation Summit held recently in Chandigarh.
While participating in a panel discussion on ‘Innovation in Healthcare – Opportunities and Challenges’ during the summit, she said, “We have also seen a rise in the mental health disharmonies across ages. The trait is visible more among old-aged people as they feel redundant.”
“Technology is important for us as we use it in our centres as a cure for multiple purposes. But we often forget that there is a need to balance our technology with personal human conduct.
Shedding light on how technology is being leveraged by Poddar Foundation, Dr Poddar said, “Our initiatives are laced with technology as it helps us connect with the larger audience. However, we try to maintain a balance between online and offline connect as human beings need a personal touch.”
Talking about recently introduced innovative solution, she said: “One of our technological innovations is integrating EEG biofeedback. Through this technology, we connect the human brain with a machine which provides reading of brain functioning. This makes the process of treating mental healthcare much more intense as it’s now visible to us.”
Nowadays, we talk about good network connectivity, WiFi connected city. But is it healthy for us? she asked.
Also read: World Mental Health Day: WHO underlines youth and mental health in changing world
“Radioactive rays surround us. On the hindsight, if we are not connected with the internet, we miss out on a lot of updates which we cannot afford,” she said while emphasising on prudent use of technology.
Stating that a plethora of apps have been developed to check whether we are suffering from mental ailment symptoms like depression, stress, or anxiety etc., Dr Poddar said: “Stress is one of the silent killers. Stress leads to physical ailments like hypertension and other chronic diseases. Apps are helping us to identify whether we are in stress or not.”
“Unfortunately, there has not been much research in mental health area to work towards policy changes. If we can gather at least five years’ consistent data, we might work upon bringing up policy level changes,” Dr Poddar added.
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