British patients get therapy on computer

LONDON (AP) For nearly her entire life, Mary had a crippling fear of cramped spaces that meant she couldn't travel on airplanes, subways, or cars. Seeing a psychologist didn't help. So she tried something else. The 61-year-old bookkeeper, who only gave her first name to protect her privacy, sat down in front of a computer and spilled out her problems to a kind of psychiatric computer game called "Fearfighter."

Last year, "Fearfighter" was one of two programs endorsed by Britain's health advisory watchdog for people with panic attacks, mild depression, or phobias.

People uncomfortable with getting advice from a computer can still choose to see therapists, but the option of logging on for help is now available and will be paid for by the government-run National Health Service.

In Britain, patients registered with the NHS routinely wait up to six months to see a psychiatrist; nearly 90 percent of people with mild depression never actually see a therapist.

The computer programs now mean that for some patients, getting psychiatric counseling is as easy as getting a password from their general practitioner to access the program online.

"Six months for some patients might be too long," said Dr. Paul Grime, an occupational medicine expert at London's Royal Free Hospital.

Since the endorsement was made last February, many British psychiatric patients have skipped the weekly sessions at their doctor's office. Instead, they now log on at home, or go to libraries to use computers designated to run the programs, where there is a health professional ready to help if necessary.

The computers are not authorized to prescribe medicine. A qualified human is required for that.

The computerized treatment is possible because people with phobias, from fear of spiders to fear of heights, tend to get the same basic therapy.

"The idea is that the repetitive parts of the therapy are done by a computer, which can then make decisions based on these answers," said Dr. Isaac Marks, a professor emeritus at King's College Institute of Psychiatry in London, and co-developer of "Fearfighter.

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From www.nola.com:
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