Mental Health in the Digital Age: Sociological Analyses of Application in the Neoliberal Context

Applications are used, not only but also, to manage persons everyday lives. By them, people are able to take a lot of actions, including taking care of their mental health. Since 2017, there are more than 10.000 apps available for consumption. In Brazil, the most famous is the Cingulo, with more than one thousand downloads. For this reason, it became the research object of this study. Through exploratory research, supported by a digital ethnographic approach and interview data, this production aims to understand the relationship between this application and its users. Trying to find what is going on behind the self-care practices provided by artificial intelligence support. Because, beyond the opportunity to solve emotional issues, these kinds of self-help apps often promote themselves using an imperative language of self-control that emphasizes the personal responsibility of the users. For instance, in 2021, the Cingulo launched the slogan “all on your own.” So, as a hypothesis, this production suggests that the emotional labor and identity built by applications may reflect that the practices of self-discipline are aligned to the neoliberal governance. Unlike Foucault's panopticon, where personal conduct change occurred due to external surveillance, today the mechanisms of discipline are activated and operated by the subjects themselves—what characterizes biopolitics. It is important to note that capitalism exercises its main form of domination over the bodies of individuals and extracts its profit from them. Now, by the apps, it got a new face called surveillance capitalism, as the data generated by the users is collected/extracted and sold by companies. Thus, there is a need for more comprehensive regulatory frameworks to ensure that this category of digital solutions is not only engaging but also effective and safeguards the privacy and security of users' data.