Listen to Nesh Nikolic from Strategic Psychology interview MoodMission founder David Bakker on the Better Thinking Podcast, as they discuss 'Using Technology in Mental Health'
https://strategicpsychology.com.au/
https://neshnikolic.com/podcast/david-bakker
In this series of posts we review the principles underlying MoodMission’s effectiveness.
Behavioral activation (BA) is a therapeutic approach primarily used in the treatment of depression. It focuses on identifying and modifying patterns of behavior that contribute to and maintain depressive symptoms. BA is based on the premise that changes in behavior can lead to changes in mood and alleviate depressive symptoms.
The underlying principle of behavioral activation is that depression is often associated with a decrease in engagement in rewarding or pleasurable activities, which can further perpetuate feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and isolation. By targeting these behaviors, BA aims to increase individuals' overall level of activity and positive reinforcement, thereby improving their mood and reducing depressive symptoms.
The process of behavioral activation involves several key components:
Activity monitoring: The individual is encouraged to monitor their daily activities, including what they do, when they do it, and their corresponding mood levels. This helps identify patterns and understand the relationship between activities and mood.
Identifying and setting goals: Collaboratively with a therapist, the individual identifies specific goals related to increasing their engagement in rewarding activities. These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Breaking down tasks: Large, overwhelming tasks are broken down into smaller, manageable steps to facilitate progress and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed or defeated.
Scheduling activities: The individual is guided to develop a structured daily or weekly schedule that includes a variety of activities, such as hobbies, social interactions, exercise, and self-care. This helps ensure a balanced and rewarding routine.
Behavioral activation hierarchy: A hierarchy of activities is created, ranging from simple and achievable tasks to more challenging ones. The individual starts with easier activities and gradually progresses to more difficult or anxiety-provoking ones, building a sense of accomplishment and self-efficacy.
Overcoming barriers: The therapist assists the individual in identifying and addressing barriers that may hinder activity engagement, such as negative thoughts, low motivation, or environmental obstacles. Strategies like problem-solving, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral experiments may be employed.
Increasing positive reinforcement: The focus is on increasing positive experiences and rewards derived from engaging in activities. This helps counteract the reduced pleasure and interest often associated with depression.
Throughout the therapy process, the therapist provides guidance, support, and encouragement to help the individual maintain motivation and adherence to the activity schedule. By gradually increasing activity levels and engagement in positive experiences, behavioral activation aims to break the cycle of depression and create a more fulfilling and rewarding life.
It is important to note that while behavioral activation can be effective as a stand-alone treatment, it is often integrated into broader cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches for depression. CBT may involve addressing negative thought patterns, dysfunctional beliefs, and interpersonal issues in addition to behavioral activation techniques.
Behavioral activation can be adapted and implemented through mental health apps, like MoodMission, to provide individuals with a convenient and accessible tool for managing their depression. Here are some ways behavioral activation has been incorporated into MoodMission:
Activity tracking: For individuals to track their daily activities, mood levels, and related thoughts. This helps users become more aware of their activity patterns and mood fluctuations over time.
Goal setting and reminders: Allowing users to set specific behavioral activation goals and reminders. These reminders can help individuals stay on track and motivate them to engage in planned activities.
Activity suggestions and planning: MoodMission provides a range of activity suggestions based on different categories (e.g., exercise, hobbies, socializing) and helps users plan their activities. It can offer a library of ideas for activities to engage in, catering to various interests and preferences.
Progress tracking: MoodMission users can track progress and monitor changes over time. It can display visual representations of activity levels, mood trends, and goal achievements. This helps users see their progress and reinforces a sense of accomplishment.
Reminders and notifications: Users can set reminders and notifications to encourage engagement in planned activities and provide positive reinforcement for completing tasks or achieving goals.
Support and guidance: MoodMission provides educational resources, self-help materials, and coping strategies related to behavioral activation. It can offer guidance and tips on overcoming barriers and addressing negative thinking.
Feedback and rewards: MoodMission provides feedback and rewards for users' engagement in activities and progress towards their goals. This includes ranks, badges, and other forms of positive reinforcement to motivate continued participation.
It is important to note that while a mobile app like MoodMission can offer valuable support, it should not replace professional therapy. It can complement therapy or serve as a self-help tool, but individuals with severe depression or complex needs may require the assistance of a mental health professional for a comprehensive treatment plan.
MoodMission has been free to download since we released it in 2016. We’re so grateful that we’ve been able to offer MoodMission for free for so long, but we are now no longer able to keep the app free as costs for development and maintenance of the app increase. Therefore, as of April 9th 2021, MoodMission will cost AUD$7.99 to download from the Apple App Store. Research has found that charging for apps actually increases user engagement, so we are hoping this helps users get even more out of MoodMission.
MoodMission will remain a social enterprise, with all profits directed towards a) the development and maintenance of the app, and b) the improvement of mental health supports. We are still committed to providing mental health support to those without financial means, so if you cannot afford the download fee, please send a message via this form and we will help you access the app.
Happy MoodMissioning,
Dr David Bakker
MoodMission Founding Director
You’re invited to explore the new edition of Fit for Life! This new edition explicitly aligns with the Victorian curriculum and brings a practical and inquiry-based approach, as well as a new emphasis on positive education. In this webinar, we’ll discuss the text, it's new features and more. Plus, the Cengage sales team will walk you through accessing and using the digital content in your classroom.
An article has just been published in leading scientific journal Behaviour Research and Therapy detailing a randomised controlled trial (RCT) that found MoodMission increased wellbeing and decreased depression in users. RCTs are the gold standard for research on therapies and treatments, and MoodMission is now one of the only app of its kind available on the app store that has RCT evidence supporting it.
Read the article here.
The MoodMission researchers have been hard at work getting findings published in leading scientific journals. The first article focussing on MoodMission has just been published and we are over the moon!
More articles are on the way. Hopefully dissemination of the findings will help inform the scientific and mental health communities of MoodMission's strengths and challenges.
Click HERE to see the article on the Cognitive and Behavioral Practice site.
Since launching MoodMission we've been trying to find a way of financially supporting our app. We will always keep the app and its main features free, but we also need to pay for ongoing development costs. So over the past few months we've been hard at work building two new additional features for MoodMission that you can unlock for a small one-off in-app purchase. These features are very strictly "add-ons" to MoodMission, which you may find useful if you're an avid MoodMission user, or if you have a specific problem that you'd like help with.
This allows you to enter your own custom Missions. You can track the personalised activities that make you feel good. Psychologists and mental health professionals can also use this with the people they work with to recommend specifically tailored Missions.
These are personalised programs that you can use to overcome specific fears. We've released just one so far; Fear of Public Speaking. This Expedition coaches you through systematic steps, helping you confront a feared situation until you become used to it and move on to the next step. Expeditions are based on the evidence-based psychological technique called graded exposure, which helps you overcome a fear by breaking it down into small, incremental steps on an exposure hierarchy. More about Expeditions here.
As always, we really value your feedback, so if you have any suggestions for our app, please email David: david@moodmission.com
Happy MoodMissioning!
Our developers have been hard at work on the latest version of MoodMission, which has now been released on Android and iOS. Among the changes, we have made many of the starting surveys optional. Up until now, these had to be compulsory due to the nature of the research we were using the app for. But now we are soooo glad that we can make them optional so new users can get to completing Missions even faster.
Among the other tweaks, we've added a small red dot counter to the home screen when you have a Mission in progress, and new Mission Complete screen.
The "I Need Help Now" option has been changed to "Other Support Options", because we now list a variety of alternate supports, rather than just crisis help lines.
As always, we are very keen to hear your thoughts and feedback on our work, so please leave any comments below :)
We are thrilled to announce that MoodMission is now available on Android. Download it today and leave a review to show your support.
A huge thanks must go to all who supported the Pozible crowdfunding campaign, and an extra special thanks to those pledgers who beta-tested the app and gave really helpful feedback for improving it.
From here we're going to look into some new exciting features, so stay tuned for those announcements.
Last week our crowdfunding campaign came to a close having hit the target to make it a success. A massive thank you to all who supported and shared the campaign. It literally could not have happened without you.
Our developers Spark Digital are now starting to build the Android version. A period of testing will follow, and the pledgers who claimed the "Test Pilot" reward will get exclusive access to the app. We will make feedback-informed improvements and aim for a release in February 2017.
Following a viral post on image sharing site Imgur, there was massive demand for two things; for MoodMission to be available outside of Australia, and an Android version. In fact, several thousand people called for an Android version, so we have launched a crowdfunding page to make it happen. If we reach our goal of $8000 by November 22nd, we'll be able to make MoodMission available to the millions of Android users who could use its support.
We got to work and managed to make the app international. You can now download it now in the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and pretty much everywhere else.
If you're an Imgurian, check out the new post.
It's now mental health week (October 9-15) and we are joining in by launching #myMoodMission.
#myMoodMission encourages people to share the strategies they use when they're stressed, low, or anxious and want to feel better again.
Take a selfie like the ones pictured below or share your strategies with the #myMoodMission hashtag. We're hoping this raises awareness about the types of things we can all do to improve our mental health and well-being.
The winners of the Elevator Awards with the Generator staff and Professor Ian Smith, Vice-Provost (Research and Research Infrastructure)
Last week David pitched MoodMission at the Monash University Generator Elevator Awards. He was lucky enough to be one of the five winners, securing a spot for MoodMission in the Accelerator program. This provides start-ups with $20,000 in funding and a series of valuable workshops. MoodMission was also a hit with the crowd and following a vote won the People's Choice Award! This won MoodMission a further $1000.
This opportunity will be used to pursue several goals for the project:
Read the blog piece on the presentation here.
by David Bakker
This Father's Day, I want to give thanks to one of the big inspirations for MoodMission - my Dad. I would be lying if I said Dad wasn’t a huge part of why I got into psychology. Not so I could analyse him (although, it has been useful…), but rather because Dad is a clinical psychologist himself and his approach to understanding and helping others has always been hugely inspiring.
His contribution to MoodMission goes beyond just getting me into psychology. His way of explaining psychological problems as “problem-maintaining-circles”, or PMCs, was instrumental in conceiving of MoodMission. Dad is a rock-solid believer in evidence. He won’t do something with a client unless there’s good scientific research showing that it will help. This is why he is focussed on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which has the most evidence out of all psychotherapies for helping people with most prevalent mental health issues. CBT pays special attention to the things perpetuating psychological problems, because these are the things that if you change, you can stop the psychological problem from feeding itself. Dad’s PMC theory is a really useful way of explaining and exploring the maintaining factors of psychological problems.
Note: Notice how I’m using the term “psychological problems” rather than “disorders” or “diagnoses”. This is another strength of PMC theory, it doesn’t rely on problematic, stigmatising, fuzzy diagnoses, and instead rightly treats everyone like unique individuals.
So what is a PMC? Let’s say you’ve had a bad day so you come home and eat a whole block of chocolate. I think almost everyone has done this or something like it at some point. But this time half way through the block you notice how hopeless and saddening this is and you get hit with a huge wave of guilt. Thoughts run through your head like, “I’m disgusting,” “I have no self-control,” “I feel fat and it’s all my fault,” or “I don’t deserve to be happy”. Again, these reactions and thoughts are had quite frequently by a lot of people. But this time your way of coping with these distressing thoughts is by eating even more. This works temporarily, but soon enough, you notice how you’ve just eaten even more and this amplifies the guilt and the hopelessness and those self-hating thoughts. Just like this:
After a while your mood might influence your thinking in a broader way, and then you get stuck in this:
The great thing about breaking problems down into PMCs is it gives you options on where to break the cycle and stop the problem from spiralling. For example, you could challenge the negative thinking with a cognitive restructuring intervention. Or you might increase activity level by scheduling pleasant activities.
It also works for anxiety:
...for anger...:
...and actually any psychological problem:
There is literally an infinite number of PMCs, because everyone is different and everyone’s psychological problems are different.
MoodMission works using PMC theory by offering alternate coping strategies that will break the cycles. For example, you might feel down and MoodMission suggests that you do some exercise. By the end of your short exercise Mission, you’re probably thinking about something else, you’re feeling physically different, and hopefully MoodMission helped you have a little fun.
PMC theory is so good that I would be using it even if it wasn’t Dad’s creation. I just get the extra bonus of knowing its creator rather well. And having roughly the same beard.
So thanks Dad. Thanks for everything you’ve ever done for me, and thanks for a way of helping people.
- David
If you want to learn more about CBT and PMC theory, check out Practical CBT: Using Functional Analysis, Problem-Maintaining-Circles, and Standardised Homework in Everyday Therapy
Guess who the author is…
Earlier in the year David was fortunate enough to be selected to present at the Falling Walls Lab Australian final. On August 24th he travelled to Canberra and presented MoodMission at the Australian Academy of Science. The other presentations included innovations for absorbing atmospheric CO2, improving breast cancer treatment, bringing Uber to air travel, using games for medical education, preventing parasite induced blindness, absorbing toxic mercury, concrete that heals itself using bacteria, converting wool into edible protein, using interactive motion-sensing games to enrich orang-utan zoo environments, and many more.
David presenting at the Falling Walls Lab 2016 Australian final
The Falling Walls Foundation is a non-profit organisation in Berlin, dedicated to the support of science and the humanities. It was established in 2009, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. At its heart is the question ‘Which are the next walls to fall?’ as a result of scientific, technological, economic and sociological breakthroughs.
Each year, the foundation supports scientific organisations around the world to host a Falling Walls Lab. This international forum promotes interdisciplinary connections between aspiring academics, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and professionals, known for their excellent work. Participants are given three minutes to present their research work, business model or initiative to a broad audience from science and industry, including a distinguished jury who selects the most innovative and promising idea.
David, Australia's Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel, and Nobel Laureate and Vice-Chancellor of ANU Prof Brian Schmidt
Falling Walls Lab is a challenging and inspiring format for emerging bright minds, giving them a unique chance to become the next big success story in innovation. Since 2009, there have been 63 international Labs worldwide with over 1,000 participants. From more than 40 countries, 500 outstanding talents have participated in the annual Falling Walls Lab Finales from 2011 to 2015.
Presenters, judges, and audience
After a long but rewarding development process, we are incredibly excited to announce that MoodMission is now available to download on the iTunes Store. Hit the button below and download it!
Special thanks must go to:
Spark Digital for their wizardry in building the app
Every single one of our Pozible pledgers who crowdfunded it into existence
Our beta-testers, who provided excellent feedback to make the app even better
The research supervisors for their valuable contributions; Assoc Prof Nikki Rickard, Assoc Prof Nikolaos Kazantzis, and Prof Debra Rickwood
And of course, all friends and family who have been amazingly supportive
The wait is almost over. The first publicly available version of MoodMission is now ready for upload to the App Store. This means it will be ready for download after a review period that usually takes about a fortnight.
Over the last month or so we have been conducting beta testing and making tweaks based on feedback. For example, there are now some cool images for each of the exercise and yoga Missions.
We've also been lucky enough to collaborate with Smiling Mind on including some Smiling Mind mindfulness meditations as Missions. You can play the meditation right from inside MoodMission:
Stay tuned for an official release date... It will be soon!
