Hi friend,
I’m back in Sydney and enjoying the first days of summer - yes, it’s December 1st somehow!
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been finalising our plans for Hemingway in 2026 and I’m so excited - it’s going to be a huge year.
While we have big plans, there are some things we won’t be changing - like bringing you these mental health roundups every week.
So… let’s get into it!
NB: If you are a Hemingway Community member, jump into our Slack to get my personal take on these headlines and join the conversation with other community members. It’s also the easiest way to hear about our upcoming events (in-person and online).
What happened in mental health last week?
Business News:
⏺️ Meridian Health Ventures announced investments in Affiniti AI and Hologen AI. (link)
⏺️ Meridian also announced the 19 mental health startups to be included in the 12-week immersion programme run by their IMH fund. (link)
⏺️ HelloBetter launched Ello, a personal AI companion for mental health. (link)
⏺️ OpenAI announced new details of their partnership with ThroughLine, introducing localised crisis helplines in ChatGPT and Sora. (link)
⏺️ Yara AI was shut down after the founder decided it was too dangerous for serious mental health issues. (link)
⏺️ Aetna announced a new neurodiversity navigation program that will be available to select Aetna Commercial customers for employer-sponsored member populations. (link)
⏺️ MHRA and NICE received £2M from Wellcome to improve the safety and effectiveness of digital mental health technologies. (link)
Research News:
⏺️ New findings from Harvard researchers found that 13.1% of US youths, representing approximately 5.4 million individuals, used generative AI for mental health advice. It looks like this was published a few weeks ago, but it somehow wasn’t on my radar. It’s worth a read - full of interesting insights! (link)
⏺️ A Nature Mental Health study found that many FDA-cleared mental health apps relied on prototype testing rather than final marketed products, and some failed to demonstrate superiority over control conditions. (link)
⏺️ Researchers from Harvard Medical School published a new tripartite approach to evaluating LLM-based tools in mental health settings. (link)
⏺️ A new study found that a one-week social media reduction among young adults led to decreases in anxiety (16.1%), depression (24.8%), and insomnia (14.5%) symptoms. (link)
⏺️ The Society of Digital Psychiatry published a road map to accelerate digital mental health adoption through education, AI standards development, and digital navigator training. (link)
Keep fighting the good fight!
Steve
Founder of Hemingway
P.S. If you want access to deeper insights and to join our vetted community for mental health innovators, consider becoming a THR Pro member. You can learn more here.
