About the Authors

Christopher Williams

chris.williams@glasgow.ac.uk

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Philip Wilson

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Jill Morrison

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Alex McMahon

Affiliation Dental School, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Walker Andrew

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Lesley Allan

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Alex McConnachie

Affiliation Robertson Centre, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Yvonne McNeill

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Louise Tansey

Affiliation Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

CW is author of the self-help book evaluated in this study (Overcoming depression and low mood: a five areas approach) and has authored another self-help book addressing depression (Why Do I feel so bad) and is principle author of the free access www.llttf.com website which addresses depression and low mood. CW is also Director and shareholder of Five Areas Limited which markets online and written self-help resources and training. His wife is company secretary of Five Areas Limited and holds shares in it. CW has advised on various Government and National Health Service advisory bodies in the area of mental health (Scottish Government Health Department committees on Training, Integrated Care Pathway for Depression Development Group, Doing Well By People with Depression Steering Group, Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland, Psychological Therapies Committee, Alternative Delivery Mechanisms, Eating disorders. Also English Department of Health: New Technologies Group member). He is also Patron of two user groups (Anxiety United Kingdom and Triumph over Phobia). The other authors declare no competing interests exist. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: CW JM PW A. McMahon WA. Performed the experiments: LA YM LT. Analyzed the data: LA YM LT A. McMahon A. McConnachie WA. Wrote the paper: CW PW JM A. McMahon WA A. McConnachie LT YM LA.