So the wonderful folks at GlaxoSmithKline, in an effort to make sure they’re reaching every single person whether they’re interested in an antidepressant medication or not, has put together a new “service” called Life is Waiting. (It’s actually called “Hope for You,” but you wouldn’t know that through the advertisements.)

Promoted heavily by TV advertising (because, hey, why not? they got the dough), the ads make absolutely no mention that this “service” is sponsored by a pharmaceutical company pushing an antidepressant medication (Paxil CR to be specific). So what the heck, I signed up for this free “service” to check it out.

Not surprising, I found a not-so-thinly veiled integrated marketing campaign for Paxil CR, disguised as the HOPE For You program. Let’s walk through the steps of this program, shall we?

Step 1. A free download PDF described as helping you learn more about depression and the program delivered on its promise. Providing the exact same kinds of information people can already get for free online about depression and anxiety (sans pretty marketing pictures showing people getting “happy”), I didn’t really learn anything new about depression or anxiety in this brochure. However, I did learn a lot about Paxil CR at the end. Thanks GlaxoSmithKline!! (As an aside, doesn’t GlaxoSmithKline sound like a company suffering from multiple personality disorder??!)

So the HOPE For You program appears to be nothing more than repackaged existing mental health information so far.

Step 2. Download and print your Voucher for a FREE 30-day supply of Paxil CR. Wow, nothing surprising there.

Step 3. Talk to your doctor and ask if Paxil CR is right for you. Be sure to bring your Doctor Discussion Guide and your Voucher. Umm, okay. So far this “service” seems to be centered around taking an antidepressant, which seems to be very similar to every other pharmaceutical program I’ve seen.

Step 4. Once your doctor prescribes Paxil CR, track your improvement by using your Personal Progress Monitor. Umm, wheeeeeeeeee!! A PPM!! Yay!!! Would this be similar to taking a Beck Depression Inventory quiz every week in psychotherapy? Because, no offense to the multipler personality disordered pharmaceutical company, but psychotherapists have been offering this free service to their clients for, oh, I don’t know, 20 years??

So, in a nutshell, the HOPE For You program is:

• A bunch of marketing literature about depression and anxiety and how Paxil CR will solve those issues
• A “Dr. Discussion Guide” to talk to your GP about the fact that you want PAXIL CR, not some other name brand antidepressant!
• The Progress Monitor — a self-administered depression tracking quiz, versions of which are freely available elsewhere (including here on Psych Central!)
• A tour of the above “program features.”

Save your time and money (for the Paxil CR).

Time and time again, research has shown that for effective treatment of depression, psychotherapy combined with antidepressants is the most effective. You don’t need to track your own depression scores because any competent therapist can help you do that with them.

GlaxoSmithKline barely mentions the importance of psychotherapy in this program. Its marketing materials look exactly as though they were written by a pharmaceutical marketing department, right down to the shallow tips and advice on how “to feel better.” It’s like someone who took a Psychology 101 class in college wrote this simplistic material.

And of course, I would expect no better from a run-of-the-mill pharmaceutical company. Why help promote existing psychoeducational resources when you can pour hundreds of thousands of marketing dollars into a typical, shallow marketing campaign that even the most simplistic will see through? The issue isn’t the mediocrity with which this campaign was created, but rather the television ad (and indeed, the website) suggest that the HOPE For You program is something different, unique, and worth your time. Pharmaceutical companies can advertise wherever they’d like, but please, don’t hide the advertisement masquerading as some sort of “new” legitimate self-help program. Because that’s all this is — a pharmaceutical ad wrapped up in some feel-good text and photographs.

And Americans wonder why their prescriptions cost so much? Look no further than this example.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 18 Aug 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.