On Line and No Longer Alone with Mental Illness.

It seemed to me this was a valuable and interesting application of internet connectivity and health support.

Virtual life delivers tools for a real life

A new online computer game aims to teach young people about mental health issues, writes Lynnette Hoffman | October 20, 2007

MISSY Higgins is singing her heart out. The playlist moves from R&B to rap to alternative -- it's all decidedly hip and there's good company about, but this is no big night out.

It's a virtual world called Reach Out Central, a free online computer game created to teach teenagers some of the same sorts of resilience and coping skills a psychologist might -- and get them to seek help if needed.

Devoid of guns, guts and gore, and no high-speed chasing, ROC is a role playing game set in suburbia with a web of characters to rival Neighbours. The premise is that you've just moved into a new town, and as you navigate the neighbourhood building friendships and helping characters through typical life struggles such as dealing with divorce or low self-esteem, you will actually learn tried and true cognitive behaviour therapy principles you can apply to your own life.

Reach Out Central was launched in September by the not-for-profit Inspire Foundation in an effort to reach young people -- especially those in the 16 to 25 age bracket, young men in particular, who are notoriously reluctant to seek help from a health professional for mental health issues.

A team of 80 youth ambassadors gave a young person's perspective as the game was being developed, and have been involved with the marketing content for the program as well.

According to the latest figures, one in five adolescents experiences a mental health issue in any given year, and fewer than 40 per cent get help from a health professional. When they do seek help it's often for physical symptoms, so any underlying mental health problem can get missed or take a long time to be diagnosed.

That was exactly the case for Queensland student "Mike Jones" (not his real name). Jones had always been a social person, and had taken on the role of school captain when anxiety struck a few years ago. He "freaked out" whenever he was around people -- speeches that once made him "a little nervous" were now "completely overwhelming". Nausea, sweaty palms, a racing heart and shallow breathing were becoming everyday experiences -- and when he decided to see his GP, those were the symptoms he complained of.

And so Jones was sent for a string of blood tests and even a gastroscopy, all of which proved negative, before Jones himself suggested to the GP that perhaps he needed to be referred to a psychologist. He says it took only a few sessions of learning cognitive behaviour therapy to get himself back on his feet.

"I stopped being reactive and started to make changes," he says. "I was able to redefine who I was -- sometimes I was faking it, being really positive even when I didn't feel that way, but now it's what people expect me to be."

It's those sorts of coping skills -- and awareness about when a mental health issue is too much to handle on one's own -- that the game is designed to communicate.

A 2006 national survey of 14,700 young people between the ages of 11 and 24 by Mission Australia found suicide was among their top five concerns -- in particular, nearly 30 per cent of 11 to 14-year-olds and almost 28 per cent of 15 to 19-year-olds said it was "a major concern." Coping with stress was the top issue 15 to 19-year-olds were concerned about, and overall two in five young people were "significantly concerned" about depression. A 2005 survey by the Australian Democrats found 57 per cent of the young people knew a young person who had attempted or committed suicide.

Young people are waiting an average of anywhere from five to 15 years to do something about mental health issues, leaving themselves open to problems such as deteriorating relationships and problems with school and work, says doctor Jane Burns, director of research and policy at the Inspire Foundation.

…..

That's just now beginning to change, with researchers at ANU in the final stages of a study that trialled the internet-based MoodGym, a self-help program that teaches CBT in a non-game format.

The study compared anxiety and depression levels in 14 to 16-year-old students at 30 schools across Australia, where half were given the standard curriculum the schools would normally provide, and the other half were given MoodGym. "There was an increase in overall mental health well-being and reduced levels of anxiety and depression after six months in the students who accessed MoodGym," Christensen says.

To read the complete article please visit:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22611086-23289,00.html

The web sites referred to in the story can be found at the URLs below

www.reachoutcentral.com.au
www.moodgym.anu.edu.au

What is really pleasing is that there is a concerted effort being undertaken to ensure that what is being done is evidence based and that there is hard-nosed evaluation underway to ensure what is being done is actually working as expected.

It seems to me that cognitive behavioural therapy is at one proven to be useful in a range of clinical situations and also to be a form of therapy that is quite well suited to ‘distance delivery’.

Given the amount of distress and misery mental illness brings to our society anything that can assist to lift that burden is a ‘very good thing!’

David.