World Mental Health Day is celebrated every 10th of October. It is a day dedicated to raising awareness about mental health issues and promoting mental well-being globally. The day aims to highlight the importance of mental health and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health education, awareness, and advocacy.

Demanding schedules, tight deadlines, and limited bandwidth factors coupled with remote working environments can create a perfect storm of workplace stress, directly impacting mental health. As advancements in AI technology continue, we can expect more tools and platforms that will help optimize productivity while taking care of our mental health. AI tools can significantly improve mental well-being at work by reducing workload, improving collaboration, detecting early signs of burnout, and personalizing the workplace experience. Here are four areas where AI can help support your mental health at work:

1. Emotion Recognition

Platforms like Affectiva utilize machine learning to understand human emotions and expressions. Emotion recognition can be used to track changes in mood or detect early signs of burnout, helping you identify the need for self-care or intervention before hitting the proverbial wall.

The tool is also helpful for marketers in media and advertising — the human perception AI software analyzes both facial and vocal expressions to better understand emotional responses to media content.

2. AI-enabled EAPs

AI-driven Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are increasingly proving to be effective in addressing employee mental wellness. The continued advancement in AI technology presents an opportunity for EAPs to become even more impactful.

With platforms like Ginger.io, you can access on-demand virtual support that leverages behavioural insights and machine learning to track any symptoms, get matched with appropriate providers, and encourage overall mental well-being.

3. Personalized Digital Coaches

With personalized digital coaches becoming more intelligent and human-like, the focus will shift from not only providing support, but to real-time interaction with employees to enhance levels of motivation, productivity, and stress.

Woebot and Wysa are already leading the way with their conversational chatbots that deploy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques to help users cultivate self-awareness and advance their mental health.

4. Advanced Analytics

Advanced analytics can be highly instrumental in providing valuable insights into personal and organizational productivity. Clockwise and Worklytics Leverage machine learning algorithms to analyze meeting habits and collaboration patterns, offering suggestions to maximize calls and avoid common productivity pitfalls.

These insights can prove crucial in ensuring efficient use of your time and resources.