Utilizing your smart watch to manage your mental health

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COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (KBTX) - Mental health issues are becoming more prevalent on college campuses across the country and researchers at Texas A&M University are working to develop evidence-based services that will help manage students' mental health.

A team of researchers led by Dr. Farzan Sasangohar, assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is developing a wearable continuous monitoring tool.

The program is called Mental Health Evaluation and Lookout or mHELP and it utilizes advanced machine learning and a wide range of sensors provided on commercial off-the-shelf smartwatches to detect signs and symptoms of high anxiety and direct the smartwatch wearer to resources.

"I'm generally very passionate about students and college students' mental health," Sasangohar says, "I've seen this rising, this trend is there to stay if you don't deal with it systematically. So I really wanted to do something about it."

For more information on the app, watch the full interview in the player above.