MoodGYM, a website started in Australia as a trial to treat depression, has achieved international recognition and now operates in six languages.
A group of researchers at the National Institute for Mental Health Research in Canberra launched MoodGYM in 2001 as a means of reaching people who wanted anonymous help for depression.
Kathy Griffiths from the Australian National University said it began as an experimental way of offering internet-based support and assistance without stigma.
“MoodGYM is an online self-help method of basically doing talk therapy without a person involved,” Professor Griffiths said.
“It is based on a method known as cognitive behaviour therapy which we know worked face-to-face, and we now know works when you convert it to an online format in automated form.”
“It was extremely unusual at the time, and people told us that it would never work and no-one would come to MoodGYM.”
However, today more than 800,000 people from 222 countries are registered to use MoodGYM to review their thinking and improve their mood.
In recent years, researchers had noticed more overseas-based visitors were using MoodGYM than Australia-based respondents.
“We have had more than 25 trials run looking at whether MoodGYM works here and overseas, even up to the northern most tip of Norway, ” Professor Griffiths said.
“What we have found is that the people who receive MoodGYM do better in terms of depression, they report improvement, and we find a reduction in anxiety and even a reduction in alcohol use.”
MoodGYM encourages change in thinking: user
A Canberra public servant, who identified himself as John, was referred to MoodGYM in 2009 after being made redundant.
He did not want to be identified because of the stigma he felt was linked to depression after the loss of a job.
“Going through the exercises made a real difference to the way I thought about things, events and so on,” he said.
“It helped me to identify toxic thoughts and banish them before they could take hold in my head.”
Lifeline referral study leads to improvements
One of the biggest problems for people with depression and anxiety was that many were reluctant to ask for help.
Lifeline crisis telephone counselling centre identified that repeat callers often described symptoms of depression but were uncomfortable about discussing it with their doctor.
A joint study in 2011 that involved counsellors referring some people to the MoodGYM website for six weeks found it made a difference.
Dr Lou Farrer said the research revealed those who took part in the self-help web support program reported a significant reduction in their depressive feelings.
“When we actually had a look at the data after the study was finished we found people who received the six-week internet program, showed a significant reduction in depression symptoms immediately after they finished compared with a control group who didn’t recieve MoodGYM,” she said.
“But what was really interesting was that six months later was we found those reductions had lasted over the longer term as well.”
A secondary outcome was that participants reported a reduction in hazardous alcohol consumption and an improvement in their quality of life.
Web-based mental health support services expanded
The success of MoodGYM had also helped encourage the development of more websites dedicated to mental health support.
The Institute in Canberra now operated a suite of mental health sites, including e-couch, BlueBoard, Beacon and BluePages.
E-couch was described by researchers as MoodGYM on steroids: It included treatment options for depression, generalised anxiety disorders, shyness, divorce or relationship breakdown, and feelings of loss and grief.
BlueBoard offered peer-to-peer support, Beacon included a list of 50 conditions and what programs were available online, and BluePages listed the scientific evidence on various mental health treatments and whether they worked.
MoodGYM’s government funding was due to end mid-2015, however academics were appealing for public support to continue.