A model for assisting in the treatment of anxiety disorder

This article presents a model for the therapeutic process and the interaction between the patient and mental health professional, assisting in the treatment of anxiety disorder. The proposed model uses the Dysfunctional Thinking Record, a tool widely used by cognitive behavioral therapy to detect and record the patient’s distorted thoughts (trigger for anxiety episodes). The patients can record these thoughts using a mobile application to collect their location and related media data. Also, therapists can use a management panel to visualize and interact with the records sent by their patients. In addition, the therapist can personalize the patient’s experience with tips and techniques for controlling anxiety. A prototype was developed and evaluated with specialists in the areas of psychology and psychiatry through scenarios. The results showed that the application can promote advances in the therapeutic process through ubiquitous interaction. All specialists recommended the application and suggested new features for use by patients.