AFTER suffering a massive heart attack at the end of last year, John Rist sank into a profoundly low mood.

John, 66, the retired former manager of a service station, had always been an upbeat person, the life and soul of the party, and someone who had met earlier health challenges with equanimity.

This time, however, on returning home from hospital – first the Bristol Royal Infirmary and then as an out patient at the Great Western Hospital – John could not shake his negative feelings.

“I was very low and depressed. I couldn’t sit and talk without crying. It was very bad.

“I didn’t want to socialise with anyone, or to go out.”

His family were deeply worried about the change they saw in him and did not know how to help him. John, who lives near Swindon, believed it was a combination of the physical effects of the heart attack on his brain, as well as a realisation of its effects on his future life, that triggered the depression.

Then John learned about a process called SilverCloud, an online support programme that helps people manage stress, low mood and anxiety.

SilverCloud is offered by Lift Psychology, a local NHS organisation that has offered psychological services to people in Swindon for the past 25 years and has pioneered primary care psychology services within the country.

Based at the Old Town Surgery in Curie Avenue, it offers talking psychological services to patients registered with GPs in Swindon, and over the past eight years, they have developed specific support for people living with long term health conditions.

SilverCloud differs from most talking therapies, because the process is online, you take it at your own pace and it is flexible to use at any time, via your computer, tablet or mobile – at home or elsewhere. For John, the process was a huge success.

“I was asked if I wanted to go on one of these programmes, and though I wasn’t really sure I thought I would give it a go,” he said. “Once I was into it, I discovered it was really, really good.”

The process is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a way of learning about thoughts, feelings and behaviours and how they influence each other. It has been clinically tested and results have shown good results for improving low mood, anxiety and stress.

Each programme has seven or eight modules which you can complete independently at your own pace, though it is suggested you do one module a week, which takes about 40 minutes.

You also have a supporter, who is a mental health practitioner at Swindon Lift Psychology. They help you review your progress on goals and activities and can give advice. Your supporter communicates with you by phone or using SilverCloud’s messaging service, so this can be done from home too.

“It really helped me,” John said. “I could do it when I wanted to do it, whether that was for a couple of hours or for ten minutes.”

In between sessions, Ellie Wilkinson, his psychology practitioner, would speak with John, review the sessions and his progress.

“There were guided relaxations on SilverCloud that were really good,” John said. “That was brilliant and it really helped.”

People aged 16 plus can self-refer through the website, or might be referred by a Lift practitioner or GP. Once signed up, people can choose the modules relevant to their situation.

The programme for depression, for example, helps you understand how thoughts influence mood and behaviour, how to tune into your mood, identify distorted thinking and balance core beliefs. Change-it modules help you challenge and change any unhelpful patterns and provide sills to help manage depression.

Within weeks, John was feeling much better.

“I can socialise again – everything’s good,” John said. “On SilverCloud I was set different goals to do, which I would try to accomplish, and you feel good when you achieve it.

“One of my goals was to get my stuff together to do fishing. Another of my goals was to go to the shop, and mobility is very hard for me. I have a scooter or a push-along wheeled walker and can use that.

“I had to do everything in stages. I would go so far, and then a bit further. When I was able to do that on my own, it was great. Prior to this, I didn’t want to do it.”

He had cancer, but is five years clear now, and also has diabetes and arthritis.

“It is still a struggle but I am so much better than before. I can talk to people, I can watch something on television without getting upset. I would recommend SilverCloud to other people,” he said.

John is married and has three daughters and nine grandchildren. He said it had been hard for them to see him get so low.

“I used to be a workaholic and the life and soul of the party, so it was hard for them to see me go really down. It was a struggle for everyone. I still have down days, but I get through it,” he said.

“I was never someone who talked about feelings and things, but I do now.”

One of the goals John set, and hopes soon to achieve, is to go on holiday, for ten days in Cypress in June.

Lift Psychology has been offering SilverCloud for about six months and it has around 60 users to date. It is for anyone experiencing difficulties in life that are causing them anxiety, stress and low mood, as well as those with long term health conditions.

Ellie said: “Some people find it very helpful. It’s not for everyone – you have to be motivated – but for many it is empowering. You can choose when you do it and what modules to do.

“You speak to us three times in the first six weeks, and we give feedback and encouragement and assistance.”

If you are aged 16 plus and registered with a Swindon GP and think SilverCloud could be helpful, visit liftpsychology.silvercloudhealth.com/signup/.