The Medical journal of Australia
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To explore patterns of internet use by young people in Australia and assess the usefulness of online resources for mental health problems, exploring functionality that may be relevant in the development of online mental health services. ⋯ Our findings suggest that technology is important in the everyday lives of young people, and online mental health services that encompass promotion and prevention activities should include a variety of resources that appeal to all ages and both sexes, such as "question and answer" forums and email.
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To describe the Beacon web portal, which lists and rates quality health websites, collects user characteristics and publishes user feedback; and to report summary data on Beacon's highest-rated (best evidence-based) sites for mental health. ⋯ There are a number of high-quality mental health websites on the internet, and Beacon provides a portal to enable the wide dissemination of these resources.
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Traditional clinic-based service delivery systems remain inaccessible to many Australians with mental health problems. If we are to substantially reduce the burden of mental illness, we need to develop more accessible, empowering and sustainable models of mental health care. E-health technologies have specific efficiencies and advantages in the domains of health promotion, prevention, early intervention and prolonged treatment. It is timely to use the best features of these technologies to start to build a more responsive and efficient mental health care system.
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Internet treatment programs for anxiety and depressive disorders are becoming available and offer cost-effective alternatives to face-to-face treatment with medication or cognitive behaviour therapy. The Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, offers internet treatment courses at the VirtualClinic (http://www.virtualclinic.org.au) for people who meet diagnostic criteria for major depression, social phobia, panic disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. ⋯ The four treatment programs that have been successfully evaluated in the VirtualClinic have been made available on a not-for-profit basis ($5 service fee) at the CRUfADclinic (http://www.crufadclinic.org) for general practitioners and other clinicians to use with their patients. These programs could be the first level of treatment in a stepped-care environment, where patients who do not benefit sufficiently could then receive face-to-face treatment from their clinician or be referred for specialist treatment.