THE SMART WAY TO SHRINK YOUR STRESS
Whether it’s an app that tracks your moods or counselling via messaging, digital therapy can be a quick and efficient way to boost your mental health. Ruth Tierney reports
From apps that track your mood to counselling via text, digital therapy can be a quick, efficient way to boost mental health
Whenever 23-year- old student Elizabeth Neil worried about finding work after her finals, her throat closed and her chest filled with a thousand butterflies. Faced with such crippling panic, she found solace not in the kindness of strangers but in the anonymity of a computer.
‘Sitting with random people in group therapy, who kept chipping in with unhelpful opinions as I divulged the history of my anxiety, left me seething rather than calm,’ remembers Elizabeth.
‘I had to rush home from university every Tuesday to attend the sessions, when all I wanted to do was chill out in front of the TV.
‘There was a six-month waiting list to see a therapist one-to- one, so when my GP suggested I do an online course of cognitive behavioural therapy, centred on practical solutions rather than talking, I thought, “Why not?” I could log on to the weekly modules in my pyjamas on the sofa and watch a 90-minute video that helped me understand that there’s a difference between opinion and fact; that my feelings influence my thoughts and subsequently my actions.’ A month on from finishing the course, Elizabeth hadn’t had palpitations once.
Online therapy courses such as the one Elizabeth took are a way of bridging the shortfall in access to psychological treatment. According to mental health charity Mind, three quarters of people with mental health problems receive no support. With one in ten people waiting more than a year to see a therapist, it’s no wonder the Government is approving and funding a growing number of online counselling services, which take just minutes to sign up to.
The dizzying array of digital therapy is as diverse as the reasons people have for turning to it. Whether you’re suffering from depression, OCD or insomnia, there’s help for you at the click of a button. ‘Clients can choose text-based therapy [such as email or instant messaging] or one with a more traditional basis but done at a distance via telephone or video.
‘Others prefer not to have a conversation with a therapist at all, so computerised cognitive behavioural therapy, or CCBT, comes into its own,’ explains Dr Kate Anthony, a trainer of online therapists. ‘We don’t all need years of analysis to feel better. Sometimes a lower level of help such as an app is fine – it’s a useful way of tracking your moods and behaviours. I train therapists to offer as many ways of communicating as possible so that the client, rather than the mental health professional, decides what works for them.’
Digital therapy is very much about giving power back to the patient. The ‘any place, any time’ nature of it means you can log on from your desk in between meetings or from your kitchen table when the kids are in bed. There’s no schlep to a weekly appointment on the other side of town, and there’s help at hand if you have a wobble between sessions, because crises rarely abide by the nine-to-five working hours of conventional therapists.
But nothing beats offloading to a person, in person, right? Actually, you’d be surprised. A study by the University of Zürich found that 57 per cent of patients treated online (via email or instant messaging) for moderate depression were free from symptoms three months after the trial, compared to 42 per cent who had traditional therapy. Researchers put the success down in part to the paper trail created by online sessions, allowing patients to read back over notes, keeping advice fresh in their minds.
That’s not the only reason why offloading online works, says Sarah Bateup, clinical lead at Ieso (therapy via instant messaging).
‘Clients open up a lot faster in writing than verbally; they’ll admit they don’t fancy their partner or that they have erectile dysfunction in the first online session because the embarrassment factor has been
➤ removed. They don’t have to worry about blushing or crying.’
Elizabeth agrees: ‘ There’s still a stigma attached to seeing a therapist and admitting out loud that I couldn’t cope would make me feel like a failure. Dealing with software questionnaires rather than another person took that feeling away.’ This is known as the disinhibition effect, says Dr Anthony. ‘Looking a therapist in the eye across an unfamiliar consulting room when you have something personal to say can be difficult. Sometimes it’s easier to pour your heart out to someone who you will never meet face to face.’
Talking therapies are usually focused on establishing the root cause of your mental health condition – but what if you already have an awareness of that? ‘My brother, sister, mum and grandparents all died before I turned 30 and my ex-husband passed away in 2008. I know bereavement is the reason for my generalised anxiety disorder and depression, so seeing a standard therapist to establish this wouldn’t necessarily work,’ says Jane Anderson-Hawkes, a 58-year- old manager. ‘Instead, I have turned to self-help websites such as Mood Juice, where you can answer questionnaires about your state of mind to get targeted advice.
‘Being able to read and reread advice reinforces the message. I also needed an emotional crutch when anxiety struck. That’s why I developed an app called Beat Panic, which is a series of flash cards to focus on when you’re on the verge of a panic attack. I use it and it helps get my breathing under control.’
Certain conditions are particularly suited to this new kind of therapy, explains Bateup. ‘Remote therapy is really effective for depression in cases where the client can’t motivate themselves to leave the house. It is also perfect for social anxiety disorder, where the thought of meeting somebody for face-to-face therapy is hell.’ In fact, there aren’t many conditions that it doesn’t work for. ‘I’ve heard arguments put forward against this method of working when it comes to children or people who are suicidal, but look at the success of Samaritans and Childline, which have provided support for acute situations at a distance for years and are hugely successful,’ says Dr Anthony.
One word of warning: check the therapist’s credentials. ‘ They should have a specialist qualification for practising therapy online,’ adds Dr Anthony.
For example, a trained online therapist will know that they have a responsibility to ensure that the communication system they use to facilitate sessions online are sufficiently secure. n Download Beat Panic at the Apple App Store, €1.09