PUSH-D for Whom

Is this program suitable for me?

This self-care program is designed for individuals who have mild levels (low severity) of depressive symptoms.

If you wish to register for this program, you will first need to undergo an initial screening (an initial evaluation process online, when you register) which will help us determine whether this self-care program is suitable for you or not. In case your depression is at moderate to severe levels or if there is more than one mental health problem then, you would benefit from seeking other forms of treatment/more intensive treatments under direct care of a mental health professional and we would advise you regarding the same, following the screening/evaluation process.

I experience some anxiety, in addition to depression. Will I benefit from this program?

The essential sections of the program target depressive symptoms though certain strategies described therein can also be useful for anxiety symptoms. Moreover, a few subsections in the Optional section of this program have content that may be used to manage anxiety symptoms. In case your anxiety symptoms are very significant/dominant, these would require to be independently handled as PUSH-D is not designed to target specific anxiety symptoms.

I am already undergoing treatment for depression. Will this program be of any use for me?

This is a self-care program for people who have mild levels of depressive symptoms and want to try it as a first-line management.

If you are already undergoing treatment for depression, either in the form of medication or psychotherapy/counselling, you can check with your mental health consultant about the additional utility of taking up this program. It is likely that the program content may supplement your ongoing treatment, but it would be best to discuss this with your consultant first. Moreover, even if you decide to register for this program, you would still be required to go through an online evaluation process.

Note : PUSH-D program was pilot tested as part of an ICMR funded research project. The results of pilot testing and associated papers have been published in scientific journals and are listed in the Reference section of PUSH-D program.

You should note the following features of this program for depression:

• Self-driven and yet assisted : This program is primarily self-driven but we will help you to keep up your motivation through periodic mobile prompts and emails.

• Self-scheduling : You can schedule your own week-days and timings to go over the program content/exercises and learn from the program.

• At your home/other convenient location : You need not travel to a center/hospital/clinic to access and complete this program. You can access it from the convenience of your home/other location.

  Note : If you are experiencing any kind of crisis at the time of registration or while using this program, the PUSH-D team will strongly recommend that you seek immediate and direct consultation with a trained mental health professional/connect to a helpline/other appropriate emergency service.

• Computer-based/mobile-based : The program requires you to access your desktop/laptop/smartphone.: PUSH-D mobile app can be downloaded from Google Play Store, while the web-based version can be accessed via desktop/laptop. As PUSH-D is an intensive, interactive self-help course, several users prefer accessing it via the web-version.

• Internet-based : You need to have access to internet for going through almost all of its content.

• Confidentiality : You can access this program in the privacy of your own chosen place. You will have to use an assigned user id and password to log on to the program. You can change your password subsequently. The information that you provide while going through the program will be stored in a secure server. Your identity will not be revealed to anyone other than the resource-team, before registration or during and after the program with the exception of instances where there is risk of harm to self or to others.

• No passive reading of content : Requires your active involvement in terms of filling forms, completing some exercises etc.

• Use your workbook : You will have access to a workbook which would contain all the information you fill in (e.g. your responses to a questionnaire, the goals you set/the plans you make) so that you can reflect upon and refer back to your own self-discoveries and commitments made during the program

• Progress monitor : You will have constant access to feedback regarding the extent to which you have completed the program/number of exercises you have completed/number of times and duration of your log-in. This is expected to help you track your own efforts and involvement in the program.

• Program Sections : These are sections of the program ordered in a sequence. These are sections typically helpful for individuals with depressive symptoms. Apart from this, there are some optional sections that you can explore at any point and use depending on your need/concerns.

• Evaluation and feedback : The online evaluation during the registration process is meant to provide you a basic/crude feedback about your depressive symptoms and functioning, so that you may choose an appropriate course of action. A face-to face professional consultation is helpful in all instances to decide the best options for a given individual. We recommend you to consult a mental health professional for face-to face detailed evaluation for any mental health concern. PUSH-D is merely a self-care tool for empowering you with a few strategies to deal with depressive symptoms. It is Not a substitute for professional evaluation and treatment. .

Dr. Seema Mehrotra trained as a clinical psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore and went on to complete her PhD work in 1996 from Nagpur University. Her PhD work was situated at the interface between psycho-oncology and psychology of well-being.

She served at faculty positions in Clinical Psychology at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal for almost a decade before joining NIMHANS as a faculty in 2002. She currently serves as Professor of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS, Bangalore.

Her responsibilities entail being in charge of Clinical Psychology services of an adult psychiatry unit, coordinating the activities of the Positive Psychology Unit and serving as a consultant at the NIMHANS Centre for Wellbeing (NCWB). She runs a positive mental health clinic called Flourish at NCWB.

Dr. Seema Mehrotra has 22 years of clinical, teaching and research experience in the field of Clinical Psychology. Her clinical work spans a gamut of psychological interventions suitable for adults with diverse mental health issues.

She has developed preventive and promotive intervention program modules for young adults in the community. She has acted as primary supervisor of research at M Phil and PhD levels for more than two dozen scholars and has led research projects funded by ICMR, ICSSR and CSIR. She has published papers in national and international peer reviewed and indexed journals and authored chapters in books. Her areas of research include mental health promotion, application of positive psychology using a public health framework, adaptation to major life events, intentional self-development and emotional regulation.

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Dr.Paulomi M. Sudhir trained as a clinical psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore and subsequently completed her PhD at NIMHANS in 1998. Her doctoral work was in the area of behavioral medicine, and involved delivering a behavioral and cognitive intervention program in patients with type-1 diabetes.

She then worked at the Department of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS as Clinical Psychologist, Junior Scientific Officer and subsequently joined as faculty at the Department in 2004. She currently holds the position of Professor of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS, Bangalore.

Her Clinical responsibilities are being a consultant at the Behavioural Medicine Unit as well as a consultant at the Community Mental Health Unit. In addition she is also a consultant at the NIMHANS Centre for Wellbeing (NCWB), where she runs the Stress and Lifestyle Clinic along with her team.

Dr. Paulomi has nearly 20 years of clinical, teaching and research experience in the field of Clinical Psychology. She specializes in behavioural and cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) for a wide array of clinical conditions and is actively involved in teaching and training post graduates and professionals. She has supervised research at M Phil and PhD in the areas of her interest that also include health psychology and mindfulness based interventions. Dr. Paulomi has received grants to carry our studies from ICMR and ICSSR and she has published papers in national and international peer reviewed and indexed journals and authored chapters in books on CBT and work stress.

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Dr. Girish Nagaraja Rao is a Professor of Epidemiology, Centre for Public Health, NIMHANS. He is a medical graduate with a postgraduate degree in Community Medicine and is trained in epidemiological methods. He has been associated with nearly 50 research projects at NIMHANS since the past decade. The activities have ranged from doing independent research to being a co-investigator to guiding student research at both undergraduate, postgraduate, super-specialty and doctorate levels. The sample sizes have also varied from less than 100 to nearly 50,000 and have adopted different study designs ranging from simple cross sectional studies to mixed study designs. The key areas of research have been geriatric mental health, maternal mental health, alcohol epidemiology, health economics and community mental health. The focus has been on health systems with a public health perspective leading on to operational and translational research. With a penchant for teaching, he professes participatory learning adopting adult learning principles. Dr.Girish was the co-investigator for the India component of the World Mental Health Survey : Bangalore study and is currently the Co-Principal Investigator for the National Mental Health Survey.

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Dr. Jagadisha Thirthalli is a professor of psychiatry, working as faculty in the department of psychiatry at NIMHANS. Additionally, he heads the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services in the department.

He obtained his MD degree in Psychiatry from NIMHANS in 1998 and since then has worked as a Senior Resident and an Assistant Professor in a general hospital psychiatry unit in Manipal, Karnataka before joining NIMHANS as a faculty in 2002.

He has keen interest in making psychiatric and psychological help available to the people who need them in the community. His team has been serving two rural communities for psychiatric care for more than a decade.

As part of his clinical work and research he liaises closely with departments of Clinical Psychology, Psychiatric Social Work and Epidemiology. He has more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed pubmed-indexed journals and has completed about 20 funded research projects as principal or co-investigator. Dr. Thirthalli has been supervising psychotherapy training of psychiatry trainees since 1999.