moodgym is an online self-help program designed to help users prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is like an interactive, online self-help book which teaches skills based on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). You can log back in to at any time to learn more skills or to add to your workbooks and diaries.
moodgym is accredited to the National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health standards . These standards improve the quality of digital mental health services and protect service users and their support people from harm.
If you or someone else is feeling suicidal, you should seek immediate help. There are people and services who can help at any time of the night or day. See Emergency help for more information.
Note that moodgym is not appropriate for crisis help.
Yes.
moodgym provides training in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) which is a recommended treatment for depression and anxiety disorders in the clinical practice guidelines published by Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Digital CBT or Internet-delivered CBT (iCBT) is also recognised in the guidelines, which make specific mention of the moodgym program.
You can access the clinical practice guidelines through the following links:
moodgym consists of five interactive modules which are completed in order.
Exercises and quizzes
As you progress through moodgym, you will be asked to answer questions about your feelings and thoughts. moodgym will then provide useful feedback about your results.
For many of the exercises it is up to you whether or not you complete them (although of course moodgym encourages you to complete all of them!). However, some quizzes must be completed before you can move on to the next part of moodgym.
Summaries
At the end of each module, a summary of your results for that module is available and can be printed out. These can also be accessed from your Workbook.
Workbook
In the moodgym Workbook you'll find all of the exercises and quizzes that you encounter throughout the program.
moodgym was originally developed and evaluated over 15 years by researchers at the Australian National University. The principal authors of the content were Professor Helen Christensen and Professor Kathy Griffiths, who first scripted moodgym in 2001. Other staff provided clinical, technical and design expertise, and young people from the community provided feedback.
The development and delivery of moodgym is now undertaken by e-hub Health – an ANU spin-off company managed by the senior members of the original team. e-hub Health is committed to the ongoing development of quality resources which make a measurable impact in the wellbeing of users. e-hub Health is part of the Dialogue group of companies.
moodgym is designed to be used by people who would like to prevent mental health problems or manage problems which are troubling but not incapacitating.
The program content is suitable for users aged 16 years or older. However, the moodgym Terms of Use require that users users are aged 14 years or older, or aged 18 years or older if from the USA.
moodgym is not specifically designed for use by people with clinical levels of depression or anxiety. moodgym suggests that those who score above 2-3 on the moodgym Depression Quiz should contact a health professional.
moodgym has been extensively evaluated in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) undertaken by research groups around the world.
Using two or more modules has been linked to significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, and these benefits have been shown to still last after 12 months.
Research trials have been undertaken in a range of settings (e.g., schools, universities, Lifeline, NHS Choices online); across the mental health care spectrum (from prevention to treatment); with different age groups (adults, adolescents); with a range of population groups (e.g. students, primary care patients, community users); in different countries; and with and without guidance.
A 2016 meta-analysis of 12 studies confirmed that moodgym is effective at reducing depression and anxiety symptoms in adult populations, with evidence suggesting that it is also effective at reducing general psychological distress.
Studies have also reported moodgym to be effective in reducing hazardous alcohol use, reducing suicide risk in high-risk populations, preventing mood and anxiety disorders, and in improving wellbeing and quality of life in users.
User satisfaction of moodgym is high, and evaluation studies suggest that moodgym is a viable option for those who cannot access face-to-face therapy, and for those waiting for traditional services. There is also demonstrated cost effectiveness of translating moodgym.
» References
The information provided throughout moodgym is intended for information and skill development purposes only. moodgym is not a substitute for seeking diagnosis and treatment from a qualified person.
Always consult a medical practitioner or mental health professional if you require a diagnosis or treatment for depression, anxiety or other mental disorders. One reason this is important is that depression is sometimes caused by physical illness or certain medications and a doctor can check these out.
Persons under age 18 with depressive symptoms should speak to their parents about seeking professional help for their depression.
Yes. All information that you enter into the moodgym program (answers to quizzes, exercises, workbooks and diaries) is kept confidential and e-hub Health is under a legal obligation to protect the integrity of your personal information.
Please see our privacy policy for detailed information.
e-hub Health understands the importance of keeping your personal information secure, and is under a legal obligation to protect the integrity of your personal information.
Please see our privacy policy for detailed information.
Yes. e-hub Health commissioned me2 accessibility to conduct an Accessibility Audit on the moodgym website. On 10 July 2019 me2 accessibility certified that the moodgym website satisfied all Level A and AA Success Criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 specification.
e-hub Health welcomes independent research on the use of moodgym with specific population groups or settings.
We encourage researchers to contact the moodgym support team to discuss the requirements of your research.
moodgym is also available in German. You can access German moodgym at moodgym.de
moodgym's sister program, e-couch provides comprehensive information and self-help for common mental health problems, including social anxiety. You can access e-couch at ecouch.com.au
moodygm is also available in German. You can access German moodgym at moodgym.de.
The previous version of moodgym was also available in Dutch, Finnish, Chinese and Norwegian, however unfortunately these versions have not been updated and are no longer available.
A government agency called the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care wrote the Digital Mental Health Standards to help people identify high quality digital mental health services. They worked with people who use digital mental health, mental health experts and industry to make sure that accredited services pay attention to the things that keep services safe.
An accredited service keeps your information private and they will ask for your feedback to make the service better. They also make sure their services are based on strong evidence.
A service gets accredited by an approved agency that has been trained to check for safety and quality issues. They check evidence to show the service meets the Digital Mental Health Standards so you can know that the service keeps people safe.
The Commission has more information on the Digital Mental Health Standards and what accreditation means.
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To purchase a subscription: register an account or log in with your previously registered account. If there is no active subscription associated with your user account, you will be provided with the option to purchase a subscription.
No. For many years moodgym was provided free of charge to users around the world. However, in order to ensure sustainability, we now charge for individual access to the new version. We have tried to keep the cost of moodgym as affordable as possible.
We encourage health departments, organisations and corporations to consider cost-effective subscriptions to provide access to moodgym for their citizens, members or employees. This information for organisations may be useful if you wish to forward a link with details of moodgym to your health provider or employer.
You will be able to purchase a subscription after you have registered an account (email address and password).
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Note that if your organisation or employer has provided you with a token, you will be able to enter this after registration to proceed without payment.
To purchase a subscription: register an account or log in with your previously registered account. If there is no active subscription associated with your user account, you will be provided with the option to purchase a subscription.
You can make the payment for subscription via a credit card or paypal. Online payments are procesesd through Paddle (see Paddle’s privacy policy here ). Once your payment has been processed Paddle will email you a receipt for the purchase (including any sales taxes). Note that e-hub Health does not collect or store your credit card details.
Subscription payments are processed through Paddle (see Paddle’s privacy policy here ). The charge for your payment will appear on your statement as "PAD*MOODGYM".
No. We never automatically charge for subscription renewals. Rather if your subscription expires, when you next log in you will have the opportunity to purchase a renewal if you wish.
Please contact the moodgym support team for assistance.
To access moodgym you will need to register an account.
If you have already registered an account you can log into the program with your email address and password. (If you registered on an old version of moodgym, you will need to log in with your username and password).
To register a user account you will need to agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and enter your email address and a password.
Your password needs to be at least 8 characters long, and meet any 3 of the following:
If you continue to have issues registering a user account, please contact the moodgym support team for assistance.
If your details aren't working and you have set secret questions, you can reset your password using your email address.
Please note that as per our privacy policy, accounts which have not been accessed for more than 2 years will be deleted.
Note that if you registered your account on an old version of moodgym, you will need to log in with your username and password. If these details aren't working, and you have accessed your account within the last 2 years, please contact the moodgym support team for assistance.
To delete your account, log into moodgym and go to 'My account' on the top right of your screen. Here you will see an option to delete your account.
If you have accessed your account within the last 2 years, your details will be active within the new system.
Yes. If you have accessed your account within the last 2 years, these details will be active within the new system.
Please note that you will need to login using your username and password (rather than email address and password).
Note that you will need to log in using your username and password (rather than email address and password), and that both are case sensitive. Also, as per our privacy policy, accounts which have not been accessed for more than 2 years are deleted from our systems.
If you details aren't working, and you have accessed your account within the last 2 years, please contact the moodgym support team for assistance.
We encourage health departments, organisations and corporations to consider cost-effective subscriptions to provide access to moodgym for their citizens, members or employees. Please see information for organisations.
Yes. Please see information for organisations.