In this video tutorial, I am going to walk you through the process of customizing the software to your specific circumstances.

Over here on the record screen, you can see that there three sections, Stay well strategies, triggers, and symptoms. These headings can be customized, as well as all of the fields underneath.

Each section has its own customize button. If you click on the Custom button for the Stay Well Strategies,  you will notice all of the fields that appear on the record screen appear in the custom box.

In this box, you can add fields, delete fields, or edit the names of fields.

For example, if Medicine taken does not apply to you, you can delete it by highlighting it and clicking the negative sign in the lower left corner.

If you have any prior data in that field, a window will popup asking you if you are sure you want to delete the field. After we delete a couple of fields, and click okay, you will see how the Stay Well Strategies section has been changed.

You can also add a new field if you wish. To do so, click on the plus sign in the lower left corner and then type in the name of the new field. If you press okay, you can now see that your new field shows up in the section.

You can also change the positioning of each field. So let’s say for example one of the fields is used quite frequently by you, you may want to move it all the way to the top. To do so, highlight the field and press the move up button until you are satisfied. If you’ve taken it any spaces too far, just press the move down button. Here is what the section looks like after we have moved this field to the top.

If you want to make a field have the option to be rated, simply check off the box next to the field under the Rate heading. If you want to take the rating option away from one of the fields, just uncheck the Rate box.

Lastly, if you want to change the name of the heading go back into the custom box, and delete the old heading under Title, and type in your new heading.

When you hit the okay button, you will immediately see the change to your heading.

This same process for adding, deleting, and changing the names of the fields or headings will work for all three sections.

And that is how you use the customization options to make the application further suit your needs. To learn more about how to use Optimism, be sure to view the rest of our videos in our tutorial series.

This video tutorial is going discuss the Plan screen of Optimism. The Plan screen is the place to bring your understanding of your health together, in a strategy for ongoing health. By recording the things that impact your health each day, positive and negative, and working out the relationships, you can make decisions about the things that you need to better manage in your life, and other things that you need to do more of.

The Plan screen is intended as a dynamic document. You will need to change it over time as you come to better understand the different factors that affect your health. You might consider completing it and then keeping it up to date at each appointment with your health provider.

The more specific your entries are on this page, the more help it will be to you. For example, you could specify the names and phone numbers of your health professionals, or how many hours of sleep a day you need to remain well. The key thing to remember is that this is an evolving document and you will need to change it over time as your health changes.

In the Stay well strategies box, type in some strategies that you feel will help you reduce your triggers and symptoms.

In the triggers box, type in the all of the things in your life that may trigger an episode of illness for you.

In the symptoms box, type in the signs that tell you that something is wrong. Recording symptoms here allows you to remain more alert to them, and making you more likely to recognize them at an early stage of a deterioration in health.

In the signs that I need help box, this is where you type in points at which your illness is out of hand and you must seek professional help. 

If you do get to the point where you must seek professional help, you may not be well enough to get the help on your own. In the getting help box, type in the method that will ensure you to be able to get the help you desire. It may be a good idea to give a partner or friend permission to assist you.

Updating the plan sheet is extremely simple. You can easily delete any items that you wish to get rid of, and type in any new items that you now want to have. 

You may also print off the plan screen, or export is as a PDF so that you can email it to someone or keep a record for yourself. It is a good idea to export the plan sheet every time you alter it, so that you can keep track of all the items you have jotted down over time. Exporting is also very easy to do. Simply click on the PDF button and click the save button. When you open up the document, this is what it will look like.

So that’s how you utilize the plan screen. Be sure to learn more about Optimism by viewing the other videos in our video tutorial series.

In this tutorial, I am going to provide you with a brief overview of Optimism.

Optimism is a wellness-planning tool that helps you to understand your health better. In the context of a mood disorder, it helps you to understand the things that are triggering an episode, and the things that are helping you to stay well. It also helps you find the early warning signs of things going wrong.

Optimism also helps you to develop an understanding of how different things interact in your life.

To begin, let’s start at the record screen. Everything you record each day is inputted on the Record screen. It’s very quick to use. On the left hand side we have the mood rating, and how you coped, as well as the other important items such as exercise and how well you slept. 

On the right hand side we have a lot of fields that are customizable, under the headings of stay well strategies, triggers, and symptoms. There are example fields set up, however, you can change them to suit your specific circumstances. 

Down at the bottom, there is a section for keeping notes each day.

In the charts window, you’ll see a visual representation of the data that you inputted on the record screen. The data that you inputted on the left hand side is what is shown in these charts. The other information, such as the customizable fields are shown here.

The report screen is another way in which the data is shown. For each day it has all the things that you have inputted, just shown in an organized way that makes it very easy to read. 

The isolate screen is a way for you to draw down into your data.  For example, you can look at all instances in which your mood is rated less than 7. It will bring up all of those days, and you can go to those relevant places within the software, and look at the days before and the days after to get a better understanding of what was going on then.

The isolate section can be a very powerful area for when you begin your analysis of determining trends associated with your daily mood.

The plan screen is for you to bring all of this together. It is a dynamic document insofar as you would be looking to update it as you learn more about your health.

You have the same sections as in the Record window, Stay well strategies, triggers, and symptoms. And then you can include signs that you need help. and then what you would do to get help.

All of the screens can be printed, and saved as PDF’s so that you can easily email them to someone, or keep a record for yourself

There is also little help buttons throughout the program that give you some help information in the context that you are in. There is also a larger help function which is located right here.

So that is an overview of Optimism. Be sure to check out the other helpful video tutorials that go into further detail on the most important features of the application.

In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to use the Isolate feature in the application Optimism. 

The isolate feature will allow you to filter your data in an effort to help you further locate patterns in your behaviors and moods.

First, click on the Isolate button at the top of the application. In this drop down menu, select one of the given categories. I am going to choose Amount of Exercise, and then I am going to select Greater Than 10 minutes. 

Now, when I press the search button, the results shown will be all the days inputted that have more than 10 minutes of exercise done. 

The Isolate feature becomes even more powerful when you use multiple searches. To do so, click on the Plus sign here. Now we can select another one of the categories. Let’s see how many days show up when we add Mood being greater than 5.

The results seen here are the days where the amount of exercise done was more than 10 minutes, AND the mood was higher than 5. At any point in your searches, you can change the options as well as the values to see the differences that appear in the results.

You also have the option to see every single result for each query by selecting Any under the Match menu. What this does is, it now shows the results for the days when exercise was greater than 10 minutes and/or mood was higher than 5.

You can add more options to your searches by doing the same process. You can use all of the fields that you fill out on a day to day basis, such as How Well You Coped, Stay well strategies, triggers, and symptoms. You can even filter the results for the quantity of stay well strategies, triggers, and symptoms. 

By continuing to change the entries in the filters, you can really become aware certain trends in your daily lifestyle. With so many options available to you in the Isolate window, there is an endless amount of analytical work that can be done. 

So that’s how you use the powerful Isolate feature in this application. Be sure to view the other video tutorials to learn more about Optimism.

In this tutorial, I am going to discuss the Charts and Reports sections of Optimism, and how you can use them to further develop your understanding of your behavioral and mood patterns.

We’ll start with the charts section by clicking on the charts button. To help you read the charts, take a look at the legend which is located in the top right corner of the window. If you scroll your mouse over the items within the chart, you will be able to see the values for minutes exercised, your mood, and how well you coped for each day. Right below those values is another chart, this time showing hours of sleep and quality of sleep. 

You can use these charts to help you learn about certain trends in your daily activities. For example, if you notice that there is a connection between hours of sleep and your mood, you might want to make sure that you are getting enough rest each night.

You can also view your stay well strategies, triggers, and symptoms inputted for each given day. This is another way that you can analyze certain patterns in your day that may have affected the way you felt.

You can export these charts by clicking on the Export button, naming your file, and then clicking the save button. After the application exports your Chart as a PDF, here is what everything will look like. Now you have these charts as a record for yourself or for emailing to whoever you wish.

If you want to view different time periods in chart form, there are several options that you can choose from.

The reports section will show you once again the same information you have inputted. The information given is shown in an organized fashion by day. The reports section acts like a journal whereby you now have all of your daily entries written down in an easy to read format. You can also print the reports, or export them as PDF.

Making good use of the charts and reports sections of this application is extremely important to help you locate trends in your daily lifestyle. These sections make it much easier for you to identify possible variables that may positively, or negatively affect your mood each day, and should therefore be utilized appropriately. 

To learn more about other features in Optimism, be sure to view the other videos in our tutorial series.

In this tutorial, I am going to show you the basics for getting started with Optimism. I am going to focus on the main screen, which is the Record screen, where you will be recording your day to day moods, strategies, and triggers, and symptoms. The day to day activities are the cornerstones for the future analytical data that you will be receiving from the application, so that you can further help yourself learn some of the trends that may help make your day more enjoyable.

We will be using the trial data given to show what multiple days filled out on the Record screen will look like, and then we will fill in a day of our own. This is a good way of learning to use the application before you venture out on your own. 

As we can see here, the first day of the trial data starts on August 1st, and all of the options have been filled in. If we skip ahead, we can see that all of these days also have the information filled in. Let’s skip ahead to August 14th, which is the last day for the trial data, and I will quickly go over what has been filled in.

Each day, you’ll need to fill out these items you see here which deal with mood, exercise, and sleep.

On the right side, there are tickboxes that you can check off or leave blank if any of the Stay Well Strategies, or Triggers and symptoms have affected you for that day. 

The items that have an arrow beside them allow you to quantify the intensity of those options. So for example, if you want to tell the application of the severity of your Stress at home, you can do so by clicking on the arrow and then selecting a number from one to ten. You can do this for multiple fields.

There is also a text box for any notes that you wish to make. Many of the trial data days do contain notes for each day to show as an example.

Now I’ll skip to August 15th, and I’ll just quickly show you an example of what it might look like when you are filling in the record sheet on your own. The process is fairly simple to do and should not take you very long. Just drag or click on the line above the number that you feel fits best. 

Use the arrows to select the number of hours of sleep, or just type in the number in the box. Bubble in whether or not you have taken your medication, or N/A if it doesn’t apply to you, and then check off the fields for Stay Well Strategies, Triggers, and Symptoms. 

If you are ever in the situation where your previous day was identical to your current day, simple hit the Fill button, and yesterday’s entries will also appear for today’s entries. You may still alter anything you wish.

If you want to erase everything from an entire day, simply click the clear button which can be found at the top of the application.