Using digital therapeutics to target gaps and failures in traditional mental health and addiction treatments

Mental health and substance use disorders are highly prevalent and are the leading cause of global disease burden worldwide. Nevertheless, most persons with mental health or substance use disorders do not receive care. Prominent barriers to traditional care include (1) stigma, (2) lack of culturally competent treatments, (3) prohibitively high cost and lack of insurance coverage, (4) inability to attend appointments due to transportation or available appointment times, and (5) inability to find coverage and prohibitively long wait times resulting from structural problems with an inadequate number of mental health providers. With the proliferation of the internet and mobile phones, digital therapeutics (software designed to prevent, treat, or manage a medical disorder or disease) are fundamentally able to address these issues. As digital therapeutics are (1) scalable, (2) constantly accessible, (3) less stigmatizing, (4) cost-effective, and (5) culturally adaptable, digital therapeutics are poised to transform mental health and substance use care.