Depression

There are a number of websites and apps to help people cope with depression:

Apps: WellMind; What’s Up? ; Mood Tools; RCPsych Mental Health App; Five Ways to Wellbeing

Websites: Living life to the full (self-help CBT approach); Mind UK.

Closed Facebook groups could be used, with some clinical oversight, to give patients who are depressed the opportunity to support and be supported by others in a similar situation.

The clinical input would probably need to be more than for other groups, as there would need to be considerable monitoring and restoration of positive attitudes, with signposting for patients in distress.

Flo has been used to give CBT-based messages to patients, to help them start to view situations differently. In one area, Flo has been set up to enable people with mental health conditions to request further information as required, when they felt in need of more support.

Video consultation, such as Skype can be a very useful way of reviewing and counselling some patients with depression, as many find it difficult initially to leave the safety of their home surroundings, and fail to keep clinic appointments. Being able to see the patient gives the clinician more information about how the patient is really feeling than a telephone consultation. See more information about Skype in ‘TECS in Use’.