For the entirety of human existence, humans have suffered. We have suffered physically, as we’ve become sick or injured, and as we aged and our bodies stopped performing as well. But we have also suffered mentally and emotionally. It’s an unfortunate part of the human experience to have loved ones lost, hardships endured, trauma afflicted and brave humiliation. Emotional suffering is something that marks human life from the very beginning.
And yet, for the majority of human history, we’ve done almost nothing about it. Sure, we bandage a cut or put a splint on a broken leg. But a broken heart or an afflicted mind have been long dismissed in every culture to focus only on treating physical pain. Regardless of the specific adages that have been passed down through cultures and generations, the common thread woven into human thought is that emotional suffering isn’t as real or isn’t as bad as physical suffering. And that goes hand in hand with a society that won’t talk about or acknowledge mental health.
Fortunately, our society has come a long way. As our understanding of the mind and of psychology grows, so does our empathy and our ability to recognize when things aren’t the way they should be. Unfortunately, the ideas and stigma around mental health have long and deep roots in our minds, and so merely knowing more isn’t enough.
Lima Jevremovic, founder of AURA and mental health advocate, believes this passionately.
She knows that the mental healthcare industry is not what it should be. She has seen it in action first hand. Jevremovic grew up in an abusive household. She explains that at a young age, her mother took her and her sisters, along with just a suitcase, and escaped. Many years after her family made a new start, it became clear that Jevremovic’s two sisters’ mental health was suffering. They had complex PTSD from severe abuse they endured and witnessed—trauma they were too young to even remember for themselves.
She says “Misdiagnosed in mental health is all too common. Patients are often issued prescription medication for conditions they don’t have. For certain mental health conditions, the wrong medications can escalate symptoms to falsely validate the wrong diagnosis which causes patients to go misdiagnosed for years. This problem arises from the mere fact that the only due diligence done when a psychiatrist diagnoses a patient with a mental illness, is self reporting; all of the data used to evaluate a patient’s mental health condition comes from how they are saying they feel. Oftentimes, these individuals have poor communication, are not sure of how to describe how they are feeling or are worried about being judged by the clinician. It’s an alarmingly barbaric method of treating the most important organ in your body, the brain, which ultimately leads to the further deterioration of the patient’s mental state.”
In 2012, a study by Bipolar UK the Royal College of Physicians and Bipolar Scotland discovered that “people with bipolar disorder wait for an average of 13.2 years before they are diagnosed, and often spend years receiving treatment for other conditions.” Among the group of 706 people who partook in the study, 85% said that their proper diagnosis was delayed and 71% said that their symptoms had worsened due to receiving inaccurate treatment and the wrong medications. Jevremovic warns, “A significant delay in proper treatment of a mental health condition can have long term effects and add to the trauma that patients are afflicted with already. Misdiagnosis can have devastating consequences, especially since bipolar is known to have the highest rate of suicide in comparion to other psychiatric illnesses. Patients end up feeling like there is no hope and that no one can help them because you can’t ‘see’ their problem. That’s exactly what we do–we allow clinicians to ‘see’ how the patient is feeling.”
Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and even obsessive-compulsive disorder are just a few of the most commonly misdiagnosed mental illnesses. In response to the frequent errors that occur in the diagnostic process, and a lack of accessibility due to the high costs of treatment for mental health and addictions, Jevremovic designed AURA. AURA is the digital health startup bridging inpatient and outpatient care with telehealth tools driven by machine learning. This platform is designed to assist mental health professionals by analysing data to guide the treatment management process and spot factors that could be missed by human error.
In addition, clinicians have access to a Virtual Reality system on site where they can use immersive environments to help patients work through issues arising from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Eating Disorders (ED) and Substance Use Disorder (SUDs) and other mental health conditions via Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET). While in these environments, clinicians are able to assess how the patient is feeling and detect health issues through patients’ behavioral analysis in correlation with patient responses.
Jevremovic hopes that with AURA growing and becoming available nationwide, the mental healthcare industry will finally be subject to the change that is long overdue. Through AURA, patients will be able to receive accurate, effective, data-driven treatment that truly promotes change, growth, and long term healing.
