Beat the blues at any time, day or night…
Surrinder was a dedicated and busy mom who worked full time as a nurse. But for the last few years, Surrinder was beginning to experience depression and anxiety.
“I was so busy with my two kids and my job that all of a sudden I realized I had this problem, this depression,” Surrinder says. “I knew I needed to deal with it, but there wasn’t enough time.”
But one night (after a long shift, making dinner, doing laundry and getting the kids into bed), the 39-year-old mother came across a link while looking around on the Staff page on the VCH website. She found the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) discovering a number of free services that she could access confidentially and for free that could help her with issues she had been facing. The EFAP service that captured her eye was their “ Beating the Blues” program that offers online confidential cognitive behavioural therapy 24/7 for the treatment of mild to moderate depression and anxiety.
“I knew that resources existed, but I had never actually looked into them,” she says. “I’m glad I did.”
That night, she emailed help@efap.ca and by the next morning, Surrinder was set up to begin Beating the Blues’ eight modules of cognitive behavior therapy – a program she says that allowed her to deal with her depression while being a busy mom and nurse.
“Accessing the program was discreet and comfortable, and so easy,” she says. “As I didn’t have time to go in person to get counseling, I was so glad to be able to get this help online. It got me to think differently about my issues and this is turn helped me to change the way I felt. These tools I can use in the future, to help me get through those tough days.”
Depression is a serious illness
“As depression affects one in four Canadians, and one out of three women in Canada, it’s a serious illness,” says Dr. Stacy Sprague, executive director of EFAP, who is a huge supporter of this program. “The sooner one notices any symptoms and the sooner they can get treatment, the better. We wanted to find a very accessible 24/7 treatment program that was peer reviewed, had excellent outcome statistics in helping to make people better – from mild to moderate anxiety and depression – and could be accessed securely and confidentially online, from the comfort of your own home.”
By the next morning, Surrinder was set up to begin Beating the Blues’ eight modules of cognitive behavior therapy – a program she says allowed her to deal with her depression while being a mom and a nurse.
“It gave me tools I could use in the future, helping me get through those tough days.”
“After a thorough search of various programs for staff, we found Beating the Blues and are very happy with the results our clients have experienced,” Dr. Sprague says. “In every case where clients have completed the eight-module program their mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety has reduced quite a bit. Even for those who have only completed the first four sessions of the program, we’ve seen a decline in symptoms.”
If you would like more information on Beating the Blues, check out the brochure, go to the EFAP website or call 1-800-872-4929.