The history of Tele Psychiatry, which we can also call as Online Therapy, e-Therapy, e-Consultation, Tele Therapy, Cyber Consultation, is much older than thought.
We know that some of Sigmund Freud's clients used correspondence for their therapy. Online therapies, which started with self-help groups in the United States in 1982, are used today.
Although support calls can be made via some phone lines in our country, professional support by therapists is still not used. Whatever the reasons why it has not become widespread, it is obvious that it will and should become widespread in the future.
As I find it useful to repeat, our first choice is always face-to-face meeting. However, it is important to protect, support and improve people's mental health in cases of necessity, as is the case these days. Human beings have dominated the world with their ability to adapt and will adapt to the current situation. I saw the need to write this article because I believe that online therapies, which have not been widely used in our country yet, although they have been used abroad for a long time, will also become widespread in this period.
Without boring you, I would like to talk about the studies that have been done on this subject. Studies have shown the effectiveness of TelePsychiatry.
(Chakrabarti S. Usefulness of telepsychiatry: A critical evaluation of videoconferencing-based approaches. World J Psychiatry. 2015; 5(3): 286-304. doi: 10.5498 /wjp.v5.i3.286). This study has shown that certain other conditions can also be treated this way.
In another study, researchers have shown that online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) combined with clinical care can be used to treat depression, anxiety, and advanced emotional stress related to illnesses. (Gratzer D, Khalid-khan F. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of psychiatric illness. CMAJ. 2016;188(4):263-272. doi:10.1503/cmaj.150007.
A study conducted by Olthuis JV and colleagues in 2015 showed that the effectiveness of online CBT in anxiety disorders was similar to face-to-face CBT (Olthuis JV, Watt MC, Bailey K, Hayden JA, S tewart SH. Therapist-supported Internet cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(3):CD011565. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011565).
A review study published by Kumar V. et al. in 2017 showed that Online CBT can be used in cases concerning mental health (Kumar V, Sattar Y, Bseiso A, Khan S, Rutkofsky IH. The effectiveness of Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy in treatment of psychiatric disorders. Cureus. 2017;9(8):e1626. doi:10.7759/cureus.1626).
Online Therapy is a It is not an emergency response. It is planned and timed, just like the therapy sessions we do in the clinic. In emergency situations (especially if there is a risk of harming oneself or someone else), 112 Emergency Health Services should be called to ensure that the person is transported to the nearest health institution where support can be received.
In addition to all this, it is important to understand that online therapy is not suitable for everyone and to whom online therapy is suitable. I would like to point out that the decision to apply it belongs to the therapist.
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