Big data and psychiatry

Abstract

The popularity of the term “big data” has increased exponentially in recent years. This term is commonly used to refer both to data sets that are too large or complex to be approached with traditional strategies, and to the data science methods used to analyze them. This review synthesizes the literature on the implemented or potential uses of big data in psychiatry. The identified literature is very diverse, covering a spectrum ranging from the use of data science methods for the prediction of events such as suicidal behavior or psychotic episodes to the emergence of a new interdisciplinary field called computational psychiatry.