The way we think determines both how we feel and how we behave. The way we think about ourselves, other people and our place in the world has a direct influence on our emotional state and our behavior. Consequently by changing the way we think we can positively influence our mood and how we respond to situations. This is the premise behind Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) which has become the most effective psychological treatment available for a range of emotional and behavioral problems including depression and anxiety.

Monitoring or tracking a person’s mood can be an important part of CBT and other psychological and psychiatric treatments. The Mood & Anxiety Diary is a useful way to track changes in mood and anxiety over time. It allows the user and / or therapist to see if there are any patterns in a person’s mood variations and levels of anxiety. The Mood & Anxiety Diary involves people recording their mood and levels of anxiety at regular intervals to help them to recognize the factors which may be impacting on their emotional state. These patterns or events that trigger changes in mood and anxiety can be explored and the appropriate treatments applied- cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and / or medication. In addition, the Mood & Anxiety Diary can track whether the treatment has been effective in helping stabilize and lift a person’s mood.

Low mood and anxiety are closely linked and often a person with low mood will experience increased anxiety, and a person with an anxiety problem may suffer from low mood. This is why we have designed the Mood & Anxiety Diary to track mood and anxiety together which will help users and professionals to see if there is an interaction between them. However, the application also allows the user to track either mood or anxiety individually which may be helpful if an individual is suffering from a mood disorder without features of anxiety, or an anxiety disorder without low mood.

To increase flexibility for users, the Mood & Anxiety Diary is designed to allow individuals to enter mood or anxiety ratings at any time. The range for mood and anxiety is 1 - 10, with 1 being the lowest rating (very low mood / low levels of anxiety) and 10 being the highest rating (elevated mood / high levels of anxiety). It is recommended that a person using the Mood & Anxiety Diary should enter regular ratings of their mood and anxiety of at least one value per day. If the user experiences fluctuations in mood or anxiety during a day, it may be helpful to enter data more regularly e.g. in the morning, afternoon and evenings. There is a handy feature which allows users to enter in notes along side the rating. For example; to record if there is an event or obvious reason for a change in mood or anxiety. The Mood & Anxiety Diary will display data in a graph which makes it much easier to view and analyze.

Similar to our other CBT applications, the Mood & Anxiety Diary was designed by an experienced clinical psychologist and CBT therapist who believed that these tools should be available in the most accessible form for individuals to use in today’s fast technological world. The Mood & Anxiety Diary can be used by people either in therapy or taking a course of medication as a useful adjunct to the treatment, and there is a feature that allows the Mood & Anxiety Diary to be emailed straight to a therapist or doctor. However, the Mood & Anxiety Diary can also be used by those individuals who are embarking on a self-guided course of CBT.