Patients Log On For Mental Health Therapy

Computer-based therapy for milder mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety should be made available to any patients in England who could benefit from it.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt wants to see patients get better access to computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT), a treatment which is delivered through a computer.

Providing this therapy as a first-line treatment for people with anxiety and depression could herald a significant shift towards providing new services closer to people at home and in the community.

And over the next year every primary care trust in England will be given the chance to provide cCBT as an important part of their psychological therapy services.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has approved two computer-based programmes for use by the NHS – Fear Fighter for treating people who have phobias or suffer from panic attacks, and Beating the Blues for treating people with mild to moderate depression.

Such programmes will enable therapy to be provided in a greater number of locations and settings, such as at home or in the library, and people who receive these services will also benefit from the support of a mental health professional.

Mrs Hewitt said: “Mental health services have clearly improved substantially, but we want to offer patients even greater choice over how, when and where they are treated.

“Being able to access the right kind of therapy, instead of just being prescribed medication, is central to this vision for patients. Clinical evidence confirms that counselling and therapy are just as effective as medication in helping to treat most cases of depression.”

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity MIND, said: “Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an important addition to the range of treatment options available for people who suffer from mild depression or anxiety. It will bring therapy to the doorstep of users making it convenient and easy to access especially for people who live in remote locations.”