Mental Health Technology Must Be Accompanied By Empathy, Ethics and Data Protection

TANJONG MALIM, Oct 1 – Technological innovation in the field of mental health must be accompanied by professional oversight, ethical safeguards and data privacy protection to ensure that digital advancement remains human-centred.

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) Chief Librarian, Noriha Muhammad said technological development has undoubtedly created wider opportunities for access to information and counselling services, but at the same time, it has also brought challenges such as cyberbullying, misleading information, social comparison pressure and digital fatigue.

She said the matter was highly relevant in efforts to address the growing mental health concerns, hence an approach that integrates science, technology and human connection must be strengthened collectively.

“In the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), innovation must be accompanied by professional oversight, ethical safeguards and data privacy protection,” she said when officiating MINDNOVA 2026: Global Mental Health Symposium, themed Innovating Mental Health: Bridging Science, Technology, and Human Connection, at Dewan SITC, Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah Campus, UPSI, on Thursday.

Noriha said according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report in September 2025, more than one billion people worldwide live with mental health disorders, while in Malaysia, the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) showed that the prevalence of depression had doubled to 4.6 per cent from 2.3 per cent in 2019.

She said 16.5 per cent of children aged between five and 15 also experienced mental health problems, underscoring the need for prevention and intervention efforts to be implemented as early as possible.

Meanwhile, Noriha said UPSI continued to strengthen its commitment to mental well-being through various initiatives, including Counselors on Wheels (C.O.W), which had reached 38 locations across Peninsular Malaysia as of 8 September.

She said the initiative provided direct screening and psychoeducation services to communities, while Psychological First Aid (PFA) training equipped communities with the skills to listen and provide initial support in a compassionate manner.

“UPSI has also introduced the MyCounselor UPSI innovation, a digital platform for systematically managing counselling appointments and session records, with strict confidentiality controls,” she said.

Noriha said libraries also played an important role in strengthening digital well-being by empowering information literacy among members of the university community.

She said members of the university community needed to be guided to assess the credibility of information sources, avoid spreading misleading viral content and refrain from labelling individuals arbitrarily.

“Synergy between the Library, Counselling Centre, faculties and student associations is important in building a caring campus culture,” she said.

MINDNOVA 2026 was organised by the UPSI Counselling Centre, bringing together practitioners, experts, researchers and participants to discuss developments and innovations in the field of mental health, particularly in addressing the challenges brought about by the digital era.

–Bazli Razak, UPSI