MentalLens - Eco Hacks

Divy Shah

MentalLens

The Problem

Mental Health is an issue that affects every one in four people in the world. Many treatments and therapy methods have been discovered, but the diagnosis of mental health is nearly impossible to identify. The diagnosis of mental health is crucial to the treatment as many patients hide their true state of mind in front of others.

Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety lead to suicidal thoughts. Every twelve minutes, “someone dies of suicide” because their mental health wasn’t taken care of (World Health Organization). These deaths could have been prevented if their mental disorder was identified and treated. Medical professionals around the globe are certified in treating mental health disorders, but very few are experts in diagnosing them.

Large medical clinics and corporations such as mayoclinic and healthline have created tests to determine whether someone has mental health issues, but rarely are the results accurate enough for a medical diagnosis. Patients can also manipulate their answers to hide their true disorder. Something to diagnose mental health disorders is in dire need, and MentalLens is the perfect solution.

The Solution

Introducing: MentalLens. MentalLens is an app that can be used to easily diagnose mental health disorders.

First, the app uses ReactNative to add a camera feature the user can use.

Next, the user takes a picture of their face and the MentalLens app compares the pictures to the thousands of pictures uploaded into its library (Pictures not included in code)

Lastly, the MentalLens app will diagnose the user based on the machine learning algorithms implemented into the app

These three easy steps will ensure that mental health patients are easily diagnosed and quickly treated. The best part about MentalLens is that it is user-friendly so users can effectively diagnose themselves and seek the help they need. With later development, our app will be able to include a medically certified diagnosis and users will be able to talk to medical professionals through the app.

Problems I Faced

Before MentalLens was born, there were many other options that could have been just as effective. After brainstorming many ideas, we decided to use ReactNative for the camera and machine learning algorithms to diagnose the mental health disorder.

One of the main problems we faced was finding machine learning algorithms and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN’s). Since one day wouldn’t be enough to code and process our own CNN, we pulled three machine learning models from PyTorch and modified them to match our needs.

Another problem we faced in the process of making MentalLens was trying to make a camera app with ReactNative. Since ReactNative uses JavaScript, I had to quickly learn javascript and create an index that could be used to import a camera from ReactNative.

My Experience

This was my first time participating in the Eco Hacks hackathon and I was a little bit worried at first to apply. This experience has been a blast for me as I have learned so many new things and come in contact with many new people. I hope Eco Hacks runs another hackathon in 2021, as I am looking forward to participating again!

Built With

• convolutional-neural-networks
• javascript
• python
• react-native