Promoting stable remission in depression by combining e-health and cognitive science: the development of DEpression’s DIgital foreCAsting Tool

DEDICAT is a research project focused on helping people with major depression, which is often a recurring or even chronic condition. Unlike other long-term health problems like diabetes or heart disease, there has been less research into how to monitor and detect early signs of relapse in depression. However, preventing a new episode is becoming increasingly important.

Early warning signals—such as changes in behaviour or mood (like “brooding”)—can alert patients and healthcare providers to negative shifts in mental well-being. DEDICAT aims to identify these signals before they become more serious.

Thanks to new technologies and advances in artificial intelligence, it’s now easier for people to collect detailed information about their daily lives—often through their smartphones or other devices. DEDICAT will use these data responsibly to create personalized ways to detect when someone’s mental health might be at risk.

Overall, this project will develop a theoretical framework for personalized detection of depression relapse and an e-health tool based on hybrid AI. The ultimate goal is to improve early detection, helping people manage their mental health more effectively.