Exploring new scientific innovations in combating suicide: a stress detection wristband

Abstract

There is a silent pandemic of suicides around the world, with an exponential increase in suicidality and chronic suicidal ideations. The exact global estimates cannot be accurately ascertained, but analysis will put it at more than a million annually. With countries like America having almost 50,000 and India alone reaching 200,000, annually. Countries like Bangladesh are nearly chronically suicidal. However, in Africa, Nigeria has a suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000, which stands above the global 10.5 and Africa's 12.0. The rate of suicide is experiencing an exponential increase. As the world, regions, and countries work towards ways to combat the pandemic, scientists brainstorm on preventive modalities. Our team, "The Mending Mind" (Winners of the 2021 Innovation for Action Global Health Challenge) proposed a suicide-preventing innovation that actively works by pathologic stress level detection. The stress-detecting wristband. This innovation is feasible and the technology needed to invent it is available. Moreso, with the rise in Artificial Intelligence (AI) augmented devices, it can be modified over time to include other healthcare monitoring sequences.

Keywords: Stress; hormones; prevention; suicide; wristband.

Figure 1

the interplay among chronic stress, major depressive disorder (MDD), suicide, and our proposed solution

Figure 2

the schematic overview of operation

Figure 3

response tools of the mobile application; A) illustration demonstrating the mobile bot app alerting the user of their current stress level; B) seizing an opportunity for educational intervention; C) notifying the user during high-stress periods, prompting them to engage in stress-reduction activities

Figure 4

the personal bot; daily check-ins from the mending minds bot app, linked to the wristband