Digital platform treats depression, anxiety in Lebanon
In crisis-riddled Lebanon where mental well-being is no longer a priority, the Step-By-Step mobile app provides free psychological and behavioral treatment of anxiety and depression.
BEIRUT — As Lebanon plunges into further economic troubles, access to mental health services has become a luxury only few can afford.
For this reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the National Mental Health Program (NMHP) at the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health developed a digital intervention to treat people with anxiety and depression.
The application named "Step-by-Step" ("Khoutouwat" in Arabic) is a free self-help program available to all Lebanese residents experiencing stress and emotional difficulties, mainly within the areas of depression and anxiety.
"The WHO was looking into developing easy and scalable solutions to increase access to mental health services in countries suffering from the lack thereof," said Jinane Abi Ramia, research unit, monitoring and evaluation coordinator at NMHP. She told Al-Monitor, "Step-by-Step was extensively tested throughout several research phases for six years until it was proven effective and cost-efficient. We were able to upscale it into national service and launch in 2021."
