MINISTER KATHLEEN LYNCH today launched a new online programme to help people dealing with depression.

The iFightDepression tool is a multilingual internet-based guided self-management tool for individuals with mild to moderate depression. The website promotes greater knowledge of and awareness of depression with the aim of increasing recognition of depression and decreasing the associated stigma.

The programme was recently developed, implemented and evaluated in give European regions, including Cork.

Lynch said today the website will be “an invaluable resource” for those suffering with depression.

The tool offers immediate access to a lower-intensity psychological intervention. It is free to use and comes in two versions – one for adolescents and young adults aged 17 -24 years and one for adults. It is implemented through healthcare professionals, who will maintain a recommended level of contact with the patient.

“Because it is internet-based, the iFightDepression tool will empower patients by virtue of its accessibility, regardless of time of day, geographical location, and financial status. Its focus on self-management and its implementation through general practitioners and psychotherapists is innovative,” the minister said.

Professor Ella Arensman, Director of Research with the National Suicide Research Foundation, said today that, since “we know very well the common risk factors for suicide and self-harm, such as depression, we now have to prioritise the care for people with depression through easily accessible interventions” like the tool launched today.

Helplines:

• Console 1800 201 890 – (suicide prevention, self-harm, bereavement)

• Aware 1890 303 302 (depression, anxiety)

• Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie - (suicide, self-harm, bereavement)

• Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)

• Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)

Read: ‘I stopped self-harming, the thoughts of suicide are gone and I don’t judge myself’>

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