Beyond Blue has released two new booklets for that exact reason designed to help people separate fact from fiction about what really works for managing anxiety and depression.

The two free Beyond Blue online booklets - A guide to what works for anxiety and A guide to what works for depression - review and rate the scientific evidence available for 440 psychological, medical and complimentary approaches used to treat anxiety and depression.

Mount Isa local doctor Michael Mbaogu said Beyond Blue had done a sterling job in producing the online booklet.

"The publication could not have come at a better time and i thoroughly recommend the booklet," Dr Mbaogu said.

Although Dr Mbaogu was disappointed medicinal cannabis was not included in the book.

"There is now increasing evidence for the place of medicinal cannabis in managing depression and anxiety and I was a bit disappointed that it was not mentioned or rated in the booklet.

"I have personally referred patients to the cannabis access clinic to treat depression and anxiety," he said.

University of Melbourne researchers, led by Dr Amy Morgan and Associate Professor Nicola Reavley, reviewed a significant number of studies and found almost two-thirds of therapies really worked.

They then used a simple thumbs-up/thumbs-down scale to rate the evidence base available for each treatment. Therapies requiring more studies are tagged with a question mark.

Beyond Blue Lead Clinical Adviser Dr Grant Blashki said the booklets provided a solid set of guidelines for people to consider before accessing mental health treatments.

"We live in a time of fake news when the online world has many questionable mental health therapies and treatments, so it is important that people have access to simple, evidence-based advice about what actually works," Dr Blashki said.

"These guides take the guess work out of knowing which treatments are available in Australia and what the international scientific studies say about how well they work."

Dr Blashki said the booklets would be useful for the two million people who experience anxiety and one million who live with depression in Australia each year, as well as medical practitioners.

"The booklets are handy tools for the general public as well as medical professionals, particularly at a time when more people are seeking mental health support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic - many of them for the first time," he said.

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