Thymia - the startup that's making mental health assessments smart

by Startacus Admin

The lowdown on Thymia, the innovative startup that's using video games based on Neuropsychology to help clinicians to make mental health assessments

For many, the pandemic has been difficult on their mental health. Disconnected from others, isolated with perhaps only video calling to keep in touch with friends and family - with their support base. 

For people with depression, the year or more of lockdown and shut-in has been trying. According to the Office for National Statistics (UK) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US) reports of anxiety and depression have risen from 10% and 11% in the UK and US respectively, just before the pandemic, to 19% and 42% during the pandemic. Now that mental health is being talked about more openly and seriously, we need to not only provide more support, but also be able to keep up that support.

London-based mental health startup Thymia is working towards that goal. The startup has developed a platform that uses video games based on neuropsychology combined with analysis of facial microexpressions and speech patterns to make mental health assessments. 

This is used as a baseline assessment used as the first stage of interaction with the app. The second stage is a video call with a clinician, from which the clinician creates a clinical case and decides on a diagnosis and intervention plan. Stage 3 is then for the user to continue using the app and playing the games between sessions with the clinician so that it can monitor changes over time, giving both the user and the clinician a better idea of the development of the user’s condition and gives them both a better idea of how well the treatment is working.

In June, Thymia announced that it has raised £780,000 in a seed round co-led by Kodori AG and Calm/Storm, and including Form Ventures, Entrepreneur First, and several angel investors. This funding will go towards scaling the platform. As well as this, the startup has established partnerships with research institutes such as UCL and King’s College London to help scale the use of this technology to other cognitive disorders beyond depression.

With 264 million people worldwide living with depression, it’s well past time we started seeing platforms like Thymia making support and treatment easier, more accessible, and ongoing.

 

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Published on: 5th July 2021