Internet-based treatment of depression

• Internet treatment for depression is (cost-) effective.
• Internet treatment for depression is as effective as face-to-face therapy.
• Upscaling of Internet treatments in routine mental health care is now opportune.
• Innovative technologies make mental health care mobile and ecological valid.
• Together these developments pave the way for personalized mental health care.

A considerable number of randomized controlled trials have shown that Internet-based interventions are effective in the treatment of depression. In the past years a large number of studies are currently focusing on how this knowledge can be used and implemented in mental health care, including preventive services, primary care, specialized mental health care, and general medical care. Furthermore, research on Internet interventions can directly incorporate many new technological applications of the Internet and mobile technology, serious gaming, avatars and automatic emotion recognition, and smartwatches. There is no doubt that this field of research will have a large and lasting impact on mental health care.