POZITIF – Predictive Tool to Overcome Negative Thinking of Employees with Anxiety

Abstract

"Mental health is becoming an increasingly relevant topic among employees. According to the World Health Organization, Anxiety disorders are a group of mental conditions distinguished by anxiety and fear. Specific phobia, major depressive disorder, and social phobia being the most common anxiety disorders and also anxiety disorders can be named as the most frequent mental illness in the world. For a significant portion of the population, an anxiety disorder can be considered the most prominent psychological condition. In Sri Lanka, most employees have a high risk of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Anxiety may limit many people's activities and make it difficult for them to enjoy their lives. The amount of time spent working, caring for others, or living in an unstable economic situation has a significant impact on stress and anxiety levels.

An increase in negative thoughts would raise people's fear and worry, which potentially leads to anxiety disorder. The number of remote workers has risen as a result of the pandemic situation. A considerable number of employees are faced with anxious thoughts because of workplace isolation. This was proved by a pilot study done among 102 employees in Sri Lanka. There is a lack of applications available to diagnose and provide therapies for both anxiety disorder and negative thoughts.

The proposed solution is a mobile application that employees can use to diagnose their anxiety level using machine learning and support to overcome their negative thinking behavior, through cognitive behavioral therapy exercises by allowing them to do self-improvement activities. The visually represented dashboard can monitor the positive thinking improvement of the user."