Remedial support
Mental and long-term illness often fuels other problems such as debt, lack of time, and so on. While these problems might be common to many people, those incapacitated by mental and long-term illness are less able to deal with them and they turn into major barriers. Furthermore, such factors themselves, contribute to emotional distress and drive mental illness further. It becomes a downward spiral – a self-reinforcing feedback loop [diag].
Psychiatric and other interventions are frustrated by confounding life-style factors. However, any point of alleviation in the spiral gives other interventions a fighting chance. Even slight relief in the life-style dimension can amplify the effect of the other support. SALTT is complementary in that it drives a wedge into the downward cycle: giving breathing space for a bit more organisation, structure, and refocus. By turning the alarm into calm, perhaps the user can, proverbially, begin to see the wood from the trees [diag].
Prophylactic resilience
Life is full of ups and downs. This is how we learn: we learn to avoid the downs. It is when the downs persist or are repeated that problems take on a more serious note, and wellbeing is threatened. Prophylactic is about preventative medicine, reducing the chances that the illness does not occur in the first place. Another way of putting it is mental resilience, having the capacity and skills to nip the problem in the bud. And where a problem does occur, to learn how to deal with it so as to prevent it from occurring again.
Generative adaptation
Remedy is about fixing problems or curing ills; generative “therapy” posits that you don’t need to be ill to get better, along with saying the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. The generative mode of SALTT is that of excellence; for those who would not identify as being mentally or long-term ill, but nevertheless want to improve what they do, sports performance is a typical example. Therapeutic modes, like palliative, prophylactic (preventative), remedial and generative are not isolated; they usually have a holistic effect. In this sense, SALTT is best employed in the generative mode, but is still aimed at recovery as the generative intentions of the user feed into a shift in mindset: a more positive outlook as it were. And this shift in mindset necessarily confers remedial benefits.
Salience Alignment
SALTT stands for Salience Alignment Training Technology. It is not just a fancy personal organiser, task management, nor a to-do list. Its principle is to encourage the user form the habit of recognising what is salient to them, and to align their actions in that direction. This principle, this method, is age old wisdom and can be found among ancient eastern philosophical texts (along with contemporary psychotherapy) – it is generative. Shifting from an overwhelming “victim” mindset to one of volition and agency can be both liberating and empowering. Its methods can be acquired through training (personal development being a huge industry). SALTT adopts those methods and philosophies to teach the user the habit of salience alignment: spotting what is important to them personally, and working out a way of getting there.
Training Technology
However, SALTT employs the facets of modern enabling digital technology to encourage a generative shift in mindset. Digital technology gives the capacity for multimedia, communications, and portability. User experience centres around the human psychology of attention: visual stimulus and reinforcement. These are things that the digital domain is well suited for. SALTT then presents an intuitive and interactive Graphical User Interface (GUI) that represents a versatile data structure that comes from the mathematics of graph theory. Specifically, the visualisation is a reflection of the user’s personal life topics, about what is salient and what is distracting. Pictures and animations tend to be more meaningful than dry text lists and highlighted displays draw the eye towards those aspects that are salient. Focussing on the important stuff becomes second nature.
User benefits of SALTT
As SALTT is generative, the application is not restricted to those with mental or long-term illness, rather they are perhaps the group that would garner the greatest benefit. To be sure, this list is long and includes depression, anxiety, alcoholism, drug dependency, victims of domestic abuse, ex-offenders, marginalised individuals, and so on: anyone who, for one reason or another, has lost their way.
To repeat, SALTT is not meant to be clinical, but rather, a supporting software mechanism. Depression is very much a case in point – from that dark hole it seems that light will never return – this perception is a symptom of the curse. One example clinical approach to depression is that of behavioural activation, which schedules activities that bring a sense of pleasure or accomplishment. SALTT would hereby be used, perhaps with professional guidance, to elicit, map-out, and focus upon, and do what the individual finds of value in order to break the vicious cycle. With repetition (ie. with SALTT’s training) the ability to shift focus to the more rewarding behaviours will become increasingly automatic thereby moving into a generative, virtuous cycle.