Moodnetwork: Learning Curve

It’s been just a few short weeks since we launched MoodNetwork, and we are learning more than we ever thought possible.

But wait, you may be thinking: What’s MoodNetwork? You mean you don’t know who we are yet?  Let’s fix that.

Power to Patients

MoodNetwork is the first “patient-powered” research, resource and support network for people with depression and bipolar disorder.

MoodNetwork’s mission is to find better treatments and therapies for mood disorders. We want to bring together 50,000 people with mood disorders and create a pool of information large enough to change how we understand and treat these illnesses. With this much information, we can start to figure out which kind of treatment or therapy works best for which person.

Patient-powered means that MoodNetwork is a true collaboration between clinicians, researchers, and people with mood disorders. People with mood disorders are partners, not patients or research subjects,

We Learn from You

When you join MoodNetwork, you will have a chance to tell us your stories in forums and blogs. In special surveys and questionnaires, you will be able to tell us how you feel about your care, how treatments and therapies make you feel, and what you’d like to see us do differently as doctors and clinicians.

MoodNetwork is not about doctors telling patients what to do and researchers directing studies with patients as passive subjects. Instead, you tell us what you think should be researched. Do you want research on suicide prevention in teenagers? Do you want research into new medications with fewer side effects? Do you want research into how diet and exercise can help manage depression and bipolar disorder? Tell us!

It’s not about you listening to us: it’s about us listening to you.

You tell us what you’ve experienced, and we learn from you.

What Have We Learned So Far?

A lot. More even than we expected to.

• You have stories to share that give us understanding, strength, and courage.
• You are enthusiastic about what we’re trying to do, but you want us to do it better and you’re willing to tell us how.
• You want more, not less, of a chance to tell us what you know.
• You have more to teach us than even we imagined.

You are the one living with depression, bipolar disorder, or a complex combination of symptoms. You know what it’s like when treatments don’t work. You also know how things lifestyle practices and alternative therapies can help you manage your mood disorder. You know how to think outside the box, which helps us break out of the box created by traditional medicine and research.

You know what works, and what doesn’t, better than anyone else.

We Are Listening

We hear you and we putting your insights to work, enlarging our forums and creating more places for you to share your stories, to tell us how you feel about your care, to direct us to the areas of research you think are important.

We are grateful for your enthusiasm and commitment.

Thank you!

If you have not yet joined MoodNetwork, please visit us at MoodNetwork.org.