Predicting sadness

New Zealander Professor Michael King, psychiatrist and Head of the Research Department of Mental Health Sciences at University College London (UCL), says reducing the prevalence of depression in the world is a major public health challenge of the 21st Century. In 28, together with British researchers, King developed the PredictD, a tool that assesses emotional state and predicts the risk of falling into depression. The PredictD is posted on the Internet and in 1 minutes foresees any potential risk of depression. The goal is for doctors and hospitals to use this easy and inexpensive method for identifying people at risk of depression, and for whom preventative methods would be helpful. “If people know their level of risk they may be able to change and act as far as possible to avoid it,” King says. Trials are currently being introduced in India and China.