Sufferers of depression can track their moods with an app

Sufferers of depression can now track their moods with a new app invented by UBC’s Mood Disorders Clinic.

MoodFX uses questionnaires and surveys that are backed by science to track a patient’s mood, cognition and work performance.

“A lot of mood tracking apps are based on a zero-to-ten scale,” says Dr. Raymond Lam, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry. “We use questionnaires that have been validated in many studies to track both symptoms and functioning, with a focus on work functioning. MoodFx is the only one consolidating that type of tracking.”

The app currently has 500 active users across Canada, and a recent survey shows that 70% of those users find the app helpful.

MoodFX app/news.ubc.ca

“Last year, I was in a fairly deep slump, and I didn’t realize that it was particularly bad until I started doing these MoodFx questionnaires,” says a user of the app, Eric Davies.

“That data prompted my doctor and I to make a change in my medication, and I’ve been great since then.”

Dr. Lam says the app gets patients more involved in their own treatment, and it allows a certain self-awareness that many people who suffer from depression might not otherwise have.

“A lot of times we see people who are on the same treatment for a long time, and they’re still not doing well, but nobody changes anything. This way people know if they’re getting better or not.”

To learn more about MoodFX, watch the video below:

[youtube id=”4fFK18LDTXk”]