A Japanese professor on Wednesday launched what he said was the world's first web-based psychotherapy sessions available via mobile phone, as the country grapples with a growing problem of depression.
A Japanese professor on Wednesday launched what he said was the world's first web-based psychotherapy sessions available via mobile phone, as the country grapples with a growing problem of depression.
The interactive service offers cognitive therapy sessions that identify a person's level of depression by asking questions about his or her sleeping and eating habits, weight change, and emotional well-being.
Depression - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.
"I think this can be helpful for people in times of need or when they feel a little blue, as a form of daily prevention against depression," Keio University Professor Yutaka Ohno, who launched the project, told AFP.
"For those who are already following medical treatment, it may act as a supplement," said Ohno, who spearheaded Cognitive Therapy in Japan, a type of psychotherapy first developed by American psychiatrist Aaron Beck in the 1960s.
Depression Screening Test
Online Depression Screening Test tells if you have mild or chronic depression based on your depression symptoms. Learn how to deal with depression by using this self-assessment calculator.
Online Depression Screening Test tells if you have mild or chronic depression based on your depression symptoms. Learn how to deal with depression by using this self-assessment calculator.
The service explains symptoms of depression but warns that it is not a substitute for treatment and encourages users to consult a doctor if he or she is evaluated as having more than a mild depression.
Advertisements
Brain Depression
Interactive section of Medindia provides information about chemistry of Brain depression
Interactive section of Medindia provides information about chemistry of Brain depression
Over the past decade, Japanese society has broken down taboos surrounding depression, but psychotherapy is still relatively new. Depression is euphemistically referred to as "the heart flu."
Advertisements
Psychotherapy More Effective Than Medication For Psychiatric Problems
Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy seems more effective in treating complex psychiatric problems than short-term treatments focused more on medications, a meta-analysis has found.
Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy seems more effective in treating complex psychiatric problems than short-term treatments focused more on medications, a meta-analysis has found.
Japan also has one of highest suicide rates in the world - more than 30,000 in 2007.
"Psychotherapy is not widespread in Japan. This is mostly because hospitals focus on treating depression clinically and psychotherapy is not covered by the medical insurance plan," said Ohno.
"The number of psychotherapy specialists and doctors is far from sufficient."
Source-AFP
LIN
