LAUSR

Digital therapeutics (DT) is a new concept that encompasses therapeutic approaches that are used to change the patient’s behavior using a variety of digital technologies and ultimately to treat diseases or promote health.1 DT has the potential to lead to natural and sustained behavioral changes similar to therapeutic interventions that have been confined to the clinic, through real-life approaches based on mobile or computer apps with various internet of medical things (IoMT). Furthermore, it is expected to change the paradigms of treatment. Psychiatric disorders and chronic diseases, in which behavioral change is key for good prognosis, are considered to be the most important applied targets of DT.2 In particular, it is actively applied to various psychiatric disorders such as substance abuse, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, insomnia, panic attacks, anxiety, and depression, among others. In the psychiatric field, biological therapy, which is represented by pharmacotherapy, and psychotherapy have been applied to clinical practice in two major ways. However, these conventional treatments have limitations in that they could only be performed face-to-face by therapists, or when compliance is poor, the effectiveness is reduced. In addition, psychiatric management in the stabilization (maintenance) phase, as well as the acute phase, is a very important part of psychiatric treatment. Furthermore, it is necessary to expand the therapeutic field with the concept of psychiatric rehabilitation. As such, the holes that still exist in the actual psychiatric fields are a task that needs to be densely filled to provide more complete psychiatric treatment. DT is expected to be able to play such an important role in achieving this task.3 Until now, most DTs have been implemented in the form of apps in the psychiatric field, and in recent years, DT Print ISSN 1738-3684 / On-line ISSN 1976-3026 OPEN ACCESS