Men encouraged to take part in online life skills course

Scottish charity Action on Depression tries to engage men in a free online course to combat depression.

‘Living Life to the Full Interactive’ is an online life skills course based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and recommended by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. Developed by Dr Chris Williams, senior lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Glasgow and experienced CBT trainer and teacher, the course is designed to help those experiencing mild and moderate depression and anxiety to learn, understand and overcome their condition.

Currently more women than men are taking part in the course, according to Catherine Eadie from Action on Depression Scotland. She said: ‘We're trying to engage men to take part in the course. 70% of people accessing our course at the moment are female and we know men find it difficult to seek help.‘

To take part in the course you do not have to be referred by a therapist or doctor. The only requirements are that you need to live in Scotland, have regular access to the Internet and you should be motivated and committed to actively improving your mood score, which you can measure on the mood scale on the charity’s website. To access the treatment you do not have to go to a clinic, there is little or no waiting time and it provides an alternative to taking medicine.

Support from self-help coaches particularly helpful

Ideally the course is completed over six weeks without interruptions and it is comprised out of six online sessions of 40-60 minutes and six supporting telephone sessions with a local self-help coach. All information is treated confidentially. According to participants, the encouragement by self-help coaches makes the course more beneficial than similar courses that are not interactive, as the experts can provide patients with additional support and motivation.

The online sessions can be done in your own time as the course is accessible 24 hours a day, and the patients are asked to apply during the week what they learned at each session. The course involves free access to handouts and materials, as well as text and video clips to help change unhelpful thinking, overcome stress and anxiety, build confidence, tackle difficult situations and to understand why you feel as you do.