Beating the Blues

• Clinically proven treatment for depression and anxiety
• Easy to use
• Can cut the number of days lost to sickness absence through depression

Beating the Blues™ FAQ

Beating the Blues™ is a cost effective and time efficient way of helping people suffering with anxiety and depression to get better and stay better. It also reduces the number of days sickness absence taken.

It is a clinically proven, drug – free treatment which integrates best practice in psychological therapies with advanced multimedia software. The programme was developed and evaluated by Ultrasis in collaboration with a research team from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London. This team was led by Dr Judy Proudfoot and included Professor Sir David Goldberg, Professor Jeffrey Gray, Professor Isaac Marks and Professor Anthony Mann.

Beating the Blues™ is an 8-session, self help treatment designed for use by patients with no previous computer experience. During the 8-session programme users identify specific problems and realistic treatment goals. They work through cognitive modules which focus on the identification and challenge of automatic thoughts, thinking errors, distractions, core beliefs and attributional styles. Interwoven with these cognitive elements are problem directed behavioural components where patients can work on any two of activity scheduling, problem solving, graded exposure, task breakdown or sleep management according to their specific problems. The final module looks at action planning and relapse prevention.

Ultrasis recognise the practical concerns of employeers that raising the profile of problems such as stress anxiety and depression may result in a flood of absences. However because of legislative and regulatory pressures as well as in attempting to manage sickness absence most organisations are having to consider what they can do about making sure that staff are mentally as well as physically fit

Beating the Blues™ uses interactive modules, animations and voice-overs to motivate and engage the user. A major feature is a series of filmed case studies of fictional patients who model the symptoms of anxiety and depression and help demonstrate the treatment by cognitive behavioural therapy.

Beating the Blues™ has been through independent clinical randomised control trials. The results of these trials, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry¹, demonstrate that Beating the Blues™ is an effective treatment for anxiety and depression, and is better than GP treatment as usual. Patients using Beating the Blues™ benefit from 30 additional depression free-days in the 6 months after treatment². They also had significantly fewer days sickness absence. Patient satisfaction has been demonstrated in an open study when nine out of ten patients would recommend Beating the Blues™ to others and over half found the programme better than other treatments they had previously received.

The recent NICE Guidelines for Depression (Dec 2004) recommend that CCBT is considered for treatment for mild depression; this is a condition for which drugs are now not generally recommended.

Beating the Blues™ is used in over 100 sites within National Health Service Primary Care Trusts, Community Mental Health Trusts and specialist CBT services as a treatment option for anxiety and depression. It is now also being offered in the United States, Canada and Australia.

1) Proudfoot, J. et al ( 2004) British Journal of Psychiatry, 185, 46-54. 2) McCrone, P. et al ( 2004) British Journal of Psychiatry, 185, 55-62