The search engine Google will soon start a service that lets people check their mental health online. People searching "depression" Google's search page will get a link to a questionnaire along their search result. The questionnaire will check to see if you could be suffering depression. There are nine questions the self-assessment. Google has partnered America's National Alliance Mental Illness (NAMI) on the project. A NAMI spokesperson said Google users can take the private questionnaire to help them find how depressed they are. He said this could help people decide if they need to see a doctor. The questionnaire will initially only be available Internet users the USA.
Google's blog said the questionnaire could help people get treatment depression more quickly. It said: "Statistics show that those who have symptoms depression experience an average a six- to eight-year delay getting treatment after the onset symptoms. We believe that awareness depression can help empower and educate you, enabling quicker access to treatment." However, Dr Aaron Balick, an expert how websites can help people, said Google's questionnaire was the same as reading any online information depression. He told the BBC: "A better approach would be…offering [people] resources and a direct line - perhaps a chat box - to local psychological services."
