Master Your Mood

Text in English & Dutch. Why must depression be recognised early, especially in adolescents? Can online therapy help resolve their problems? Which young people are likely to drop out? Are depressed youth more inclined to use the first-person singular? This book addresses such questions by evaluating Master Your Mood, the first-ever chatroom course for depressed youth. A wealth of information emerges, partly by virtue of a unique text analysis of chat sessions. Among the pertinent findings are that people who use fewer words to describe their initial problems are more prone to therapy dropout. Research on e-mental health could be greatly enriched by text analysis. And targeted support is needed for primary care providers to help them recognise and treat incipient depression in young people.