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Internet-based interventions are as effective as psychotherapies, in treating depression

14/Oct/2006: Internet-based interventions for depression are not only effective, but also have a long-term positive impact on the patients, just like active psychotherapies, according to the mental health researchers at The Australian National University (ANU).

Psychotherapies are a range of techniques that are designed to improve the mental health of a patient, using only dialog or communication.

A yet-to-be-published study by Professors Helen Christensen, Andrew Mackinnon and Dr Kathy Griffiths at the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) at ANU, has demonstrated that internet-based interventions can be as effective as treatments involving direct human contact, for treating depression. The researchers evaluated the effectiveness of two websites, an online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) site –www.moodgym.anu.edu.au and a psycho-education site – www.bluepages.anu.edu.au, which are accessed anonymously by thousands of users across the globe. Researchers tried to ascertain the impact of these websites, on its users, 12-months from initial contact.

The study found that the users of both these websites, experienced improvements in their conditions over the long term. Professor Christensen said that the website www.bluepages.anu.edu.au provided greater average benefit after 12 months, to all its users, who were suffering from high levels of depression, when they started using this site.

Professor Christensen added that the exact reason behind the effectiveness of internet-based interventions was not clear, but the information, advices and recommendations on treatments, which these websites provide to its users, might have helped the users to overcome their mental health problems, more effectively.

The study suggest that brief internet-based interventions may have a long-lasting positive effect on patients suffering from depression – an outcome that seems to be odd, given the lack of human support and low-level of human interaction. Professor Christensen said that internet is an effective way of reaching people struggling with mental health problems in rural and remote areas and it can provide easy access to information to over 60% of people affected by mental health problems, as most of them do not seek or receive any professional help to overcome their problems.

This study is the first one to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of online treatments for mental health problems.

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