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Strengthens HealthMedia Position as Global Leader of Online Behavior Change Solutions

Northborough, MA— November 1, 2006 — MySelfHelp.com, Inc., the world’s premier company for online mental health self-help programs and tools, announced today that it will be acquired by HealthMedia, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan. MySelfHelp.com offers a family of highly interactive programs for depression, insomnia, eating disorders, and a range of other mental health problems that cost employers and health plans billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, disability claims, and healthcare costs. The following recent statistics highlight the growing crisis and need for a more comprehensive solution:

  • Over 30% of the U.S. population suffers from mental health problems at any given time, most commonly depression. 48% of the population will experience one or more mental health problems in the course of their lifetimes.

  • The average cost of medical treatment per depressed patient is $8,000, only $2,000 of which is treatment for depression. The additional costs are generated by depression-related medical problems resulting from lack of self care, non-compliance with recommended treatment and medication, and high-risk behaviors such as smoking and substance abuse.

  • The presence of depression greatly increases the chances of being disabled by a medical condition – for some illnesses the risk of disability is more than doubled if the individual is also depressed.

  • The economic burden of depression is over $83 billion per year. Depression is responsible for over $51 billion in workplace costs, including lost productivity and absenteeism, each year, and is the number one cause for disability claims.

This announcement is part of HealthMedia’s expansion strategy designed to establish the company as the global leader in the online delivery of behavior change interventions for wellness, disease management, medication compliance, and behavioral health. “Consumers demand interventions that do not neatly fall into any single category. This creates the need for complementary products that cross multiple health issues. Our online behavior change interventions provide consistent, high-quality programming with outstanding efficacy rates, and increase the opportunities to create positive ROI for employers, health plans, pharmaceutical companies and behavioral health organizations,” comments Ted Dacko, President and CEO of HealthMedia, Inc.

MySelfHelp.com Rounds Out HealthMedia’s Behavioral Health Offerings

The prevalence of Internet-based self-help programs designed to address mental health issues has risen steadily in recent years. MySelfHelp.com has distinguished itself by offering a broad spectrum of highly interactive and clinically sophisticated mental health programs for combating depression, insomnia, binge eating and bulimia, and overcoming guilt and low self-esteem. MySelfHelp.com is staffed by a team of highly experienced and reputable healthcare professionals and other experts who are devoted to helping people improve the quality of their lives. The MySelfHelp family of programs was developed in part through significant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Says Dr. Richard Bedrosian Ph.D., founder and president of MySelfHelp.com, “We have great respect for HealthMedia’s programming and the tremendous outcomes their participants have achieved through the wellness, disease management, and medication compliance programs. The spirit, values, and constructs that power the MySelfHelp interventions are consistent with those at HealthMedia. We are thrilled to become a core component of their programming.”

MySelfHelp complements HealthMedia’s existing behavioral health programs by adding depression, insomnia, and other mental health programs to existing offerings for stress and addiction. “Some combination of insomnia, depression, guilt and anxiety is typically prevalent with many diseases and conditions such as obesity, smoking, and chronic illness. We intend to offer MySelfHelp programs not only through the traditional behavioral healthcare and EAP channels, but to healthcare organizations and employers as part of our core health and disease management offering,” adds Ted Dacko.

About MySelfHelp.com
As the world’s premier company for online self-help resources and tools, MySelfHelp.com consists of a growing family of highly interactive, easy-to-use programs featuring user-customizable exercises and resources designed to speed recovery and promote well being. MySelfHelp.com programs are currently used by healthcare organizations and individuals in 61 countries throughout the world. The MySelfHelp.com product line includes online programs for depression, insomnia, binge eating, bulimia, grief, low self-esteem, guilt, compulsive shopping, and HIV and depression, as well as caregiver support programs and tools. Recent research on depression, eating disorders, and insomnia indicates that use of MySelfHelp.com programs results in significant improvements.

About HealthMedia, Inc.
HealthMedia, Inc. is the global leader in online delivery of behavior change interventions. HealthMedia’s proven outcomes increase compliance, reduce medical utilization, and increase productivity in order to improve profitability for health plans, employers, pharmaceutical companies, and behavioral health organizations. With its powerful combination of proven behavior science, sophisticated technology and creative marketing, HealthMedia delivers individually tailored self-management interventions for health and wellness, disease management, medication compliance, and behavioral health. Notable clients include Kaiser Permanente, UPS, Cleveland Clinic, Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett Packard, GSK, and seven Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations across the United States. HealthMedia partners include APS, Corphealth, Harris Health Trends, Health Dialog, and SHPS. For more information, visit www.healthmedia.com.

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