Rejoyn: A Smartphone App Approved As Treatment For Depression

Rejoyn is a smartphone app that offers depression patients a six-week treatment program to have more control over their emotions. Rejoyn was developed in a coalition between two companies as a treatment for Depression. One is the Otsuka Pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and the other one, Click Therapeutics is a medical technology manufacturer headquartered in New York City. The app is currently available for prescription by healthcare providers. The amazing part about this app is that it is intended to reduce the symptoms of MDD. According to the company:

“Patients using this app will be able to engage in a combination of clinically-validated cognitive emotional training exercises for the brain and brief therapeutic lessons.”

How does Rejoyn work?

Rejoyn is an app designed to help people with mood disorders. It is targeting neuroplasticity, the brain’s innate ability to change and grow new pathways. While chemical imbalances are a part of the issue, many people with mood disorders have impaired emotional regulation due to bad communication between the brain’s regions responsible for emotion recognition and processing. Rejoyn’s workouts target these areas and aim to strengthen communication.

The app uses the Emotional Faces Memory Task, which has been shown to have antidepressant effects due to stimulating the areas involved in depression. Rejoyn is designed to act like physical therapy for the brain. It delivers personalized, consistent brain-training exercises to enhance connections in the brain regions affected by depression. When stronger connections are formed, the areas responsible for processing and regulating emotions can better work together, leading to improved symptoms of depression.

Who can use it?

Rejoyn is designed for people over 22 years old with MDD who are already taking medication. It is developed to work in tandem with traditional prescription treatments.

Why is This App Getting so much Attention?

Rejoyn is the first of its kind. There have been many wellness apps around us for years, however, this is the first prescription digital treatment for MDD approved by the FDA.

Dr. John Torous, director of the Division of Digital Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who was not involved in the development of Rejoyn stated:

“The kind of cognitive training Rejoyn employs is not “well-established.. The research is still exploratory. The trial for Rejoyn did not prove a “statistically significant benefit.”

However, Rejoyn’s developers are optimistic regarding the treatment’s therapeutic strength. David Benshoof Klein, CEO of Click Therapeutics stated:

“Only a third of patients diagnosed with depression and who receive antidepressants as their first-line treatment, are successful. These patients need new options that capitalize on proven-effective treatment strategies.The clearance of Rejoyn signals a fundamental change in how clinicians can treat symptoms of major depressive disorder. It provides hope for those who are looking for new treatment options, especially one that is easily accessible through the device in the palm of your hand.”

Sources claim that nearly 18% of U.S. adults suffer from depression. According to a 2023 Gallup report, this is more than one out of every six people. Unfortunately, the treatment models used most often include talk therapy and pills that date back to the 1960s and ’70s. Many scientists in the domain have long believed these models to be obsolete. They have been encouraging alternative efforts and new frontiers. This app seems to be a good alternative model for the treatment of depression.