Stress, low mood and anxiety are a normal part of life. However, if your stress and low mood start bothering you for more than two weeks or if you feel you can no longer cope, you may want to seek help.
Mood Mate is an application developed as part of a PhD research project at the University of Reading to see whether monitoring your mood over 30 days helps people seek treatment. You will be eligible to take part in the study if you are experiencing anxiety or low mood.
Mood Mate will give you information about where to find local psychological therapy services. These treatments are offered by the NHS and are free to use. The treatments available can either be offered over the phone, or in person. Some of these services will allow you to refer yourself directly to treatments without having to go through a GP. These are purely psychological talking therapies, rather than medication.
Two thirds of the people who download the app will be asked to monitor their mood over 30 days. One third will not be asked to monitor their mood. We will compare whether people who monitor their mood are more likely to find treatment than people who do not monitor their mood.
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This study has been given favourable ethical approval from the University of Reading Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 12/01) and is funded by the Medical Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council.
