TWO Northbridge researchers will share in more than $1 million to study the treatment of depression over the internet and to review the treatment of anorexia.
Clinical psychologist Peter McEvoy said being awarded $585,000 from the National Health and Medical Research Council was huge recognition.
Part of the Health Department’s Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI), Dr McEvoy will work on a five-year study aimed at expanding existing programs that use the internet to treat specific mental disorder diagnoses.
“Ultimately, we could treat a lot more people on the internet, compared to face-to-face appointments,” he said.
With less than 40 per cent of people seeking treatment for these conditions, the research will look at some of the barriers patients’ face, such as not knowing where to go for help or having limited access to treatment because of living in a remote location.
Dr McEvoy said the CCI research hoped to cast its net wider than simply treating a defined diagnosis, as it was rare that depression did not overlap with other disorders like anxiety.
Fellow CCI researcher Sue Byrne will use the grant in a four-year study comparing the merits of three therapies currently used to treat anorexia nervosa.