From left: Chancellor The Hon. Michael Egan, Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton and The Hon. Sussan Ley with Mindspot Clinic Project Director Professor Nick Titov at last week’s event celebrating the Clinic’s 50,000th patient.

The MindSpot Clinic, an initiative of Macquarie University and the Australian Government, has  helped more than 50,000 Australians to date. This milestone was acknowledged at an event last week attended by the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care, The Hon. Sussan Ley. We caught up with MindSpot Project Director Professor Nick Titov to find out more.

MindSpot is a national mental health service that provides free online screening assessments and treatments to Australian adults with anxiety and depression. What makes us different is that we offer a completely confidential virtual service, allowing us to reach people who otherwise wouldn’t access mental health care because of fear of judgement or due to living in a rural area or being unable to leave their home. These people come from across Australia and from a broad range of backgrounds, ethnic groups and ages.

MindSpot’s success is something that all of us at Macquarie University can be proud of. It grew out of the eCentreClinic research unit in the Department of Psychology, and it is another example of how Macquarie produces results with huge real-life applications. The initiative’s success is testament to how the contributions of teams from across the University are essential, and how together, we are able to make real differences in the lives of thousands of people who would otherwise not receive care.

What I love most is that we truly help people with our treatments. We know that people’s symptoms reduce by at least 50 per cent over treatment, with results sustained at follow-up. And because of the high quality of service provided by our clinical team, 95 per cent of users report they would recommend the service to a friend.

It was an honour to celebrate such a big milestone for MindSpot, and I look forward to continuing to help the community in the years to come.