Keep track of your mood and beat the New Year blues
31 Dec 2012 | Moodscope
People who measured and tracked their mood
last year were much more likely to beat the New Year Blues,
and researchers expect the same to be true in 2013.
Statistics released by online mood-tracking service Moodscope show
that the daily 'happiness scores' of those who began recording
them in the first four days of January 2012 started at an average
of 34% but had risen to 51% by month-end, while the scores of
those who had not used the service rose from 34% to just 38%.
These figures indicate that there was a 4-point natural uplift
across the month as the New Year gloom faded, but that people
who took more affirmative action saw a much greater
17-point improvement.
Although mood tracking is a reasonably new phenomenon, it is
based on the well-established principle that you cannot manage
what you do not measure. Moodscope, which has recently been
independently evaluated by London's Institute of Psychiatry,
enables its users to obtain daily mood scores via an
online 'card game' based on a tried-and-tested psychological
test.
The health start-up's preliminary findings show that this simple
measuring and tracking process can, in and of itself, lift
mood. However Moodscope also enables users to nominate someone who
will receive automatic notifications of their mood scores
allowing them to offer support, when needed, without having to
be asked. Sharing mood scores (rather like going public about your
weight at a diet group meeting) can lead to more rapid
improvement.
After suffering from mood swings, entrepreneur Jon Cousins
invented Moodscope when an NHS psychiatrist asked him to keep
a record of his emotional state but gave him no means of doing
so. Finding that the measuring, tracking and sharing process
helped to stabilise his own mood, he set about offering the
tool to others, and Moodscope currently supports over 30,000 users
worldwide. Seth Roberts, Professor of Psychology at Beijing's
Tsinghua University, says that Moodscope has great potential.
"Moodscope is revolutionary. It helps individuals raise their mood
without dangerous drugs, unhealthy foods, or expensive
therapy. It helps them learn what makes their mood better or worse.
Here, as is so often true, knowledge is power."
Cousins believes his service could help millions. "Users have
told us that Moodscope helped prevent them taking their own
lives. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in
our lifetimes, so it's not surprising that the health system
struggles to cope. There can be lengthy waits
for psychotherapy, meaning that medication is sometimes the
only solution offered. Moodscope is available immediately, and
it enables depression sufferers to explore the causes of their low
mood rather than simply tackling the symptoms, as
antidepressant medication does."
More Information
Further details, including analysis of the effect of Mood
Tracking using Moodscope, can be downloaded in the press release.
For more information about Moodscope contact Jon Cousins (Moodscope
Founder) - Tel: +44 1487 830208 or email [email protected]
Moodscope Lite is free of charge. A premium service, Moodscope
Plus, enabling more in-depth analysis of mood changes, is £5.99
(US$9.99) a month.
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Find ways to bounce back, Look for what's good