Psychological self‑help interventions are a proven, scalable way to expand access to mental health care, especially for depression and anxiety. Recommended by WHO, these structured interventions help people manage stress and mental health symptoms independently or with minimal support. Extensive evidence shows that both guided and unguided self‑help can reduce symptoms, with guided approaches potentially achieving results comparable to more intensive, in‑person care. When delivered digitally or remotely self‑help interventions can reach large populations, including those in low‑resource and hard‑to‑reach settings.

WHO has developed a number of psychological self-help interventions, with Step‑by‑Step and Doing What Matters in Times of Stress already integrated into national mental health services. These flexible, practical and accessible interventions can help strengthen mental health services and expand care within a stepped‑care approach.

WHO's manual ‘Psychological self-help interventions delivering self-help for individuals, featuring step-by-step and doing what matters in times of stress’. The manual provides guidance on implementing self-help interventions. 

WHO psychological self-help interventions: 

• Psychological interventions