Just a thought is a new e-therapy website recently launched in Aotearoa / New Zealand. It provides two six-session cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) online courses, one for people suffering from depression and another for people experiencing generalised anxiety disorder – that is worry and lots of it. The courses provide lots of information, questions to get you thinking about your specific situation and exercises and skills to use outside of the course. All good standard CBT stuff. And it’s free!! You can self-refer to the website or you could be referred by your GP or mental health practitioner. You set the pace at which you work through the course and have up to three months to complete it, although you can extend this if needed. If you think that you are experiencing either depression or generalised anxiety, Just a thought recommends you visit your GP to check out possible physical causes for these problems. The symptoms of an iron deficiency, for example, can look like a depressive episode and the two can be mistaken for each other. It is always a good idea to check these things out.
The website says that 80% people who complete the course show some improvements. As always, the trick with self-driven exercises is to maintain the motivation to work your way through the whole course. My posts on motivation may provide some tips for this. If you think you could benefit from these courses please check it out.
Amanda Baird 