Mood Memos: Emails to improve your mood

Background

Depression is a common mental disorder with a large burden on society. Milder forms of depression (e.g. symptoms that do not meet criteria for major depression) can be even more common, yet still cause suffering and place a large burden on society. ¹ A solution to improve milder forms of depression and prevent major depression could help to reduce the population burden of depression. A less costly alternative to psychological treatment could be an educational health promotion campaign. Health promotion campaigns educating the public about physical health conditions and how to prevent them have proved effective. A similar approach could be used for those who have mild forms of depression. ²

Aim of the study

The study is researching whether an email-based mental health promotion campaign can help improve mild depression symptoms and prevent the development of major depression. The goal is to help reduce the population burden of depression with an intervention that can be widely used at low cost.

The intervention

The study is Internet-based with automated recruitment, assessment and intervention delivery. Participants regularly receive emails with information about depression or advice on self-help for mild depression over a period of 6 weeks. The email contents are based on advice endorsed as helpful by an international group of depression experts. ³ The study has been granted ethics approval and is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12609000925246).

Who can participate?

Adult Internet users are eligible to participate if they have depression symptoms and are at risk of developing major depression. Individuals with diagnosed depression or who are already receiving treatment from a health professional are not eligible. Only residents of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, UK and Ireland are eligible to take part. Recruitment is currently underway and is expected to close in November 2010.

Evaluation of outcomes

The effect of the intervention on the following outcomes will be evaluated: rates of depression, depression symptoms, psychological distress, functioning, knowledge of depression, and self-help coping strategies used.  

Find out more by visiting the study website: http://www.moodmemos.com

References

1. ↑Cuijpers, P., R. de Graaf, et al. (2004). "Minor depression: risk profiles, functional disability, health care use and risk of developing major depression." Journal of Affective Disorders 79: 71-79.

2. ↑Jorm, A. F. and K. M. Griffiths (2006). "Population promotion of informal self-help strategies for early intervention against depression and anxiety." Psychological Medicine 36: 3-6.

3. ↑Morgan, A. J. and A. F. Jorm (2009). "Self-help strategies that are helpful for sub-threshold depression: A Delphi consensus study." Journal of Affective Disorders 115: 196-200.