MoodFx is an interactive app designed to help people with depression and low mood feel better—a helpful tool to assist you in overcoming depression. With MoodFx, you can:

• Screen for symptoms of depression and anxiety, and for problems with cognition and work functioning.
• Track your symptoms when you start a new treatment for depression.
• Set reminders to check your symptoms regularly and before appointments.
• Print, email, or show your results to your doctor right on your mobile device.
• View your past results and progress over time with simple charts.
• Receive helpful tips for managing depression, anxiety, and difficulties with cognition and work stress.
• Monitor for the return of any symptoms once you are feeling better.

MoodFx provides you with tools you can use to track and manage your symptoms of depression. With MoodFx, you can:

• Screen for symptoms of depression and anxiety, and for problems with cognition and work functioning.
  • If your symptoms reach a certain threshold of severity, MoodFx will suggest how you can best seek help.
  • MoodFx can help you communicate with your doctor about how you are feeling.
  • MoodFx collects information with medically proven assessments. These assessments are familiar to many family doctors and mental health care providers, so they can rely on your results to help with diagnosis and treatment.

• Track your symptoms when you start a new treatment for depression
  • When you begin a new treatment for depression, such as medication or counselling, you can also track your improvement with MoodFx.
  • MoodFx collects information with medically proven assessments. Your doctor or care provider can use your results to help monitor your treatment.

• Set reminders to check your symptoms regularly and before appointments.
  • Sometimes it is difficult to recall how you were feeling in the past. By checking in regularly—for example, once every week or two—you will have accurate information about how you are doing over time.

• Print, email, or show your results to your doctor right on your mobile device.
  • MoodFx allows you to easily save, print, or email copies of your results to share with your doctor or other care provider.

• View your past results and progress over time.
  • MoodFx allows you to visualize the improvements you have made since starting a new treatment for depression.
  • If your symptoms or work functioning are not improving with treatment, you and your care provider may want to try something different.

• Receive helpful tips for managing depression, anxiety, and problems with cognition and work stress.
  • You can choose to have MoodFx send you a helpful tip each week. These are easy tips that you can start using right away to feel better.

• Monitor for the return of any symptoms once you are feeling better.
  • Once you are feeling better, it is helpful to check symptoms every month or two. By identifying new symptoms sooner, you can take action to stop them from getting worse.
  • Most treatments for depression (for example, medication and counselling) last 9 to 12 months. MoodFx encourages you to monitor your symptoms for at least a full year from the beginning treatment. Of course, you can use MoodFx for as long as you like.

Anyone 19 years and older who has problems with depression, anxiety, or related conditions can use MoodFx.

Younger people can also use MoodFx, but the assessments have been developed and validated for use in adults. Your family doctor may be able to recommend other resources specifically for your age group.

MoodFx was developed in partnership between the Mood Disorders Centre, a medical clinic and research centre for people with mood disorders, and the University of British Columbia’s eHealth Strategy Office. Both are located in Vancouver, Canada.

It’s easy to get started with MoodFx. Check out our brief user training video to learn the basics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8g46ePf7fI

The following user training video explains how to get the most out of MoodFx by using it with your health care provider(s): www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoZlIcAjqW0

Yes, all information you provide to MoodFx is stored securely and confidentially according to strict standards set out by B.C.’s and Canada’s privacy laws. Your questionnaire data is also anonymized and stored separately from all identifying information, such as your e-mail address and cell phone number, meaning no one will know your results are yours, not even members of the MoodFx team.  Anonymized data will be analyzed by the MoodFx team to evaluate MoodFx’s clinical usefulness and improve the services and features it provides in the future.

We will never sell or release any contact or other information, including your email address, to any third parties.

For complete information about our data protection and use policies, please see our Privacy Statement.

“Depression” is a broad term that is often used in different ways. In MoodFx, depression refers to clinical depression, a common mood disorder that will affect up to 1 in 7 Canadians during their lifetime.

Clinical depression is different from the kinds of normal sadness we all experience in everyday life. It is a medical condition with several emotional, physical, behavioural, and cognitive symptoms.

• Emotional symptoms: sadness and low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, irritability, guilt or feelings of worthlessness, emotional numbing
• Physical symptoms: changes in sleep, such as trouble falling or staying asleep or oversleeping, changes in appetite, weight loss or gain, fatigue, low energy, and body aches and pains
• Behavioural symptoms: avoiding family friends, crying, stopping usual activities such as daily routines, exercise, and self-care, increased use of alcohol or drugs
• Cognitive symptoms: difficulties concentrating or paying attention, trouble remembering or learning new things, difficulties making decisions, planning, or solving problems, feeling like your thoughts are slowed down

Symptoms of depression and other mood disorders can interfere with your normal functioning and reduce your quality of life. Fortunately, there are many effective treatments for depression available through your family doctor or other care provider.

Anxiety is an emotional state involving feelings of dread, apprehension, or unease. Like depression, anxiety is often accompanied by physical (e.g., muscle tension, stomach upset, racing heart, insomnia) as well as cognitive (e.g., worrying, difficulty concentrating) symptoms.

A certain amount of anxiety can be a normal and even helpful response to stressful life situations. However, chronic, persistent, and/or severe anxiety may indicate an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders, like depression, can interfere with your functioning and reduce your quality of life.

Anxiety is also common in depression, and disorders involving depression and anxiety often occur together.

Cognition refers to the ability to think, including our ability to:

• concentrate and pay attention;
• learn new things;
• remember important details;
• solve problems;
• make plans or decisions;
• put our thoughts into words.

If you are dealing with low mood or depression, you may have noticed that you have difficulties with your thinking, or cognition. Many people with depression experience these difficulties.

Treatments for depression can help return your thinking skills back to normal.

By “work functioning”, we mean the way in which symptoms of depression can impact your ability to do your work.

If you are dealing with low mood or depression, you may have noticed that your symptoms make it harder to do your job. You may notice you have less energy or motivation to do your work, have trouble concentrating or remembering things, or have feelings of anxiety or irritability. As a result, you might get less work done, make more mistakes, or avoid your coworkers.

Stressful situations at work can also contribute to feelings of depression. Fortunately, we can all learn to manage stressful situations more effectively. Learning to manage work and other sources of life stress is an important component of managing your depression.

• Not necessarily. High scores indicate problems with symptoms and functioning but there are many reasons why your scores may be high.
• Only a qualified health care professional (like your family doctor, psychologist, or therapist) can make a diagnosis using more information.
• You should check with your doctor or therapist about your scores.

• The decision about taking time off work depends on the individual and the work situation. You should discuss with your doctor or therapist about whether you should be off work.
• It is not always necessary to take time off work, even if your symptoms are moderate to severe.
• For example, during treatment for depression, symptoms and work functioning often improve at the same time.
• Advantages to taking time off work include: 1) avoiding work stresses that can worsen depression and anxiety; 2) allowing more time to focus on treatment; and 3) avoiding accidents in safety-sensitive jobs.
• However, there are also disadvantages to taking time off work that can interfere with recovery. These include: 1) without the distraction of work, you may spend more time with negative thoughts and self-doubt; 2) loss of the regular schedule and routine makes it easier to spend time in bed or in unproductive activities; and 3) loss of social interactions at work makes it easier to withdraw socially.
• Avoiding work stress and conflict is usually not helpful for recovery and makes it more difficult to deal with them upon your return to work – instead, learning new ways to cope with stressful situations is more important.
• Check out these online resources

• Sometimes your symptoms will not improve even after you begin a treatment for depression, such as antidepressant medication or talk therapy. It is important to know that this is not your fault or due to a lack of effort or desire to get better on your part.
• There are many reasons why your scores are not improving, including:
  • Not enough time has passed: It can take up to 2 to 4 weeks for antidepressant medications to have an effect on symptoms and up to 8 to 12 weeks to achieve their full effect. The same is true for talk therapy, depending on how often you see your therapist, the kind of therapy you are doing, and your unique situation . It is important to try a treatment long enough to allow its full benefits to emerge.
    *When you change your treatment (e.g., start a medication or increase the dose) and there is no improvement in your scores after 4 weeks, you should talk to your doctor or health care provider.
  • Side-effects are making things worse: Sometimes medication side effects can be similar to symptoms, like trouble sleeping or agitation. Side effects are most common in the first week or two after starting a new medication or increasing the dose. Often, the side effects get better once your body gets used to the medication. If you are having trouble with side effects, please see your doctor.
  • Stressful life events: Unexpected and stressful life events (e.g., work or family stress, financial difficulties, an unexpected loss) can make your symptoms worse. If you experience a stressful event after beginning a new treatment, it can be helpful to wait until you have adjusted or the situation has improved before deciding whether or not the treatment is helpful. You should discuss these stressful events with your doctor or therapist.
  • The treatment may not be right for you: Sometimes, even after enough time has passed, a treatment will still not be helpful for your symptoms. Research shows that:
    • about 1/3 of people starting a new treatment for depression will respond very well, with most or all of their symptoms improving a lot;
    • another 1/3 will improve with the treatment but still have some remaining symptoms;
    • finally, another 1/3 will experience little or no improvement in their symptoms.
• It is important to remember that, even if one treatment isn’t right for you, there are many other treatments available that are likely to help. You should speak to your doctor or health care provider about other treatment options.
• Schedule an appointment and bring your most recent MoodFx report and History so you can discuss your symptoms that are not improving.
• Remember to monitor your symptoms especially when you are making changes to your treatment or beginning a new treatment to have accurate information about how these changes affect your symptoms.

There are many helpful resources available, both online and in print. Below is a list of websites with reliable information about depression and mental health.

You can also check out our Resources page for specific resources related to depression and working with depression.

• DepressionHurts.ca
• HelpGuide.org
• Mood Disorders Society of Canada
• Canadian Psychological Association
• Canadian Psychiatric Association
• Canadian Mental Health Association
• Mental Health Commission of Canada
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• Centre For Applied Research In Mental Health and Addiction

When you access MoodFx through the browser of your mobile device, you can save the website to your device’s home screen to access it easily in the future.

On the iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices (iOS): On the MoodFx mobile web site, tap the browser screen to call up Apple’s browser menu. Select the box icon with an upward arrow, then select “Add to Home Screen”. The MoodFx app icon will now be on your device’s Home Screen for easy, one-click access.

On Android/Windows OS devices: This depends on the operating system and browser you are using, but most native browsers have the option to save the mobile site to your device home screen through your browser’s menu.

If you opted in to email or SMS (text messaging) alerts for appointments, check-ins, or tips but are not receiving them, you may have entered an incorrect email address or phone number. Please double-check that the email address and/or phone number you entered is correct, under “My Profile” on the home page.

If you continue to have difficulty, please contact MoodFx technical support, at info@moodfx.ca.

You control the MoodFx Tips and other messages. To unsubscribe to Tips and other MoodFx Alerts, simply sign into your account at www.MoodFx.ca and go to the Alerts page. There, you can select whether you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to email and text Alerts.

If you don't remember your account details to log in, select “Reset Password” on the login page and enter the email address associated with your account. If you are still having difficulty, please email info@MoodFx.ca for further assistance.

For more information about the benefits of using Alerts, such as reminders to check your mood and weekly self-management tips, check out this user video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX3vmqYORBQ.

For any other technical issues, please send an email with a description of the problem to info@moodfx.ca. You can also send us suggestions for questions to add to this FAQ.

Simply email info@moodfx.ca with your account email and/or username, and we will disable your account. You will no longer be able to sign in and will not receive further Alerts or Tips from MoodFx. Alternatively, you might consider simply turning off all MoodFx Alerts under the Alerts page and leaving your account active in case you might like to start using MoodFx again in the future.