Mobile application to provide biofeedback for mental health released after studies on suicide rates released

NASHUA, N.H., 05 Feb. 2013. Skyler Frink discusses two new studies on suicide rates and the Department of Defense's new mobile app designed to monitor mental health in this week's Military & Aerospace Electronics Report.

Transcript:

This is the Military & Aerospace Electronics Report, I'm Skyler Frink

The Department of Defense has introduced a mobile application to monitor the mental health of service members after an alarming suicide rate was reported both among veterans and active duty soldiers.

The application, called BioZen, uses wireless sensors that monitor its subject's physical level of relaxation. The application uses sensors that measure galvanic skin response, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and other indicators of stress levels. The application can even gather information about brain activity from sensors.

When information is gathered from the sensors, the application generates feedback and charts the user's progress, allowing them to see how their body responds to their behavior. This enables doctors and therapists to get access to important information that may otherwise be unknown.

The release of this application comes just after the results of two different studies, one on veteran suicide rates and another on service members, were released. The Department of Veteran Affairs announced twenty-two US military veterans commit suicide each day, and the US Army reported that 325 Army personnel, both active and non-active, committed suicide in 2012, a number greater than the combat death total of US forces in Afghanistan.

The BioZen application seeks to provide service members with information on their psychological health, enabling them to better deal with stress and share useful information with therapists and doctors.

For the Military and Aerospace Electronics Report, I'm Skyler Frink