MHPE applies engineering discipline, structured assessment, and quantified metrics to mental health management. It provides clear diagnostic workflows for clinicians and actionable maintenance pathways for patients.
Unstructured management introduces variability. The MHPE methodology mandates following a structured process: establish a baseline, monitor the baseline and identify deviations (negative and positive), communicate and exchange information, apply knowledge and establish automated maintenance parameters.
Algorithmic evaluation across 17 clinical domains to isolate critical issues, mapped via a standardized RAG (Red-Amber-Green) indicator system.
Execution of an iterative treatment protocol—pharmacological or therapeutic—monitored rigorously until symptom resolution is recorded.
Deployment of self-monitoring frameworks to maintain baseline equilibrium and preemptively detect potential symptom recurrence.
Developed by Andre de Wit, CPEng, EngExec. Recognising systemic issues in personal mental health management the founder applied engineering principles—root cause analysis, process optimisation, and control systems—to formulate the MHPE methodology.
Review Full Documentation →The proprietary web interface facilitating the MHPE protocol. Dual-portal architecture enables patient data entry and comprehensive clinical oversight.
This website provides general information explaining MHPE — technical specifications and clinical rationales for the methodology and its digital implementation via the MY DAISY architecture.
Part I: Overview
Mental health is an essential part of people's lives and society. Poor mental health affects our well-being, our ability to work, and our relationships with friends, family, and the community, and it impacts our quality of life. According to research, mental health disorders are highly prevalent worldwide, with approximately 50% of the population developing at least one disorder by the age of 75. Despite advances in prevention and treatment, it remains a worldwide health concern with a substantial unmet need for appropriate intervention.
The global population was estimated to be approximately 8 billion people in 2023. Based on these figures, approximately 4 billion people may experience a mental health condition during their lifetime. Many mental health conditions are treatable, and their impact can often be reduced through appropriate care and support. However, many people do not receive timely or effective treatment, while others feel uncomfortable sharing their symptoms with healthcare professionals or those close to them. The Founder Mr Andre de Wit’s own experiences and treatment journey did not always achieve the desired outcomes. As a result, he began exploring alternative approaches to mental health management.
Global statistics highlight a clear need to explore innovative approaches to mental health support. This need, combined with the Founder’s lived experience of mental health challenges, engineering expertise and desire to help others, led to the development of Mental Health Process Engineering (MHPE) and the MY DAISY platform. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer and holds the Engineering Executive credential from Engineers Australia (EA). His work in the mental health space was documented and presented to Engineers Australia, where the innovative measures proposed to support mental health management attracted attention. Together, MHPE and MY DAISY provide a structured approach aimed at supporting positive outcomes across many aspects of life, with emphasis on the importance of process.
Imagine a neglected house that has fallen into disrepair. Renovating it requires a structured process: identifying priorities, planning the work, engaging the right tradespeople, monitoring progress, and completing one task at a time. As improvements become visible, hope and motivation grow. Eventually, the house is restored into a safe, functional, and enjoyable place to live.
During the renovation process, you also gain tools and skills that help you maintain the house afterwards. You become better equipped to identify and address problems before they accumulate, making ongoing maintenance more manageable and helping keep the house in good condition.
Mental health management can be approached in a similar way. Difficulties experienced throughout life may remain unresolved and accumulate over time, contributing to problems such as depression, mood disturbances, changes in sleep or appetite, alcohol misuse, loss of interest, hopelessness or emotional distress. A person may then seek help and enter a treatment or “renovation” phase with a medical practitioner, psychologist or other healthcare professional, which may include medication, psychotherapy or other appropriate interventions. With appropriate support and a structured process, mental health can improve significantly and a better quality of life may be achieved. Once the treatment or “renovation” phase is complete, ongoing “maintenance” becomes important. This involves using the tools and skills learned during treatment, regularly checking in on mental health, addressing emerging difficulties and applying appropriate self-help strategies when needed.
Part II: MHPE Methodology
A well-defined process can play an important role in mental health care. To provide this structure, the Founder developed a methodology called Mental Health Process Engineering (MHPE), explained through its three components:
Mental Health
Mental health is a state of emotional, psychological and social well-being that enables people to cope with life’s stresses, realise their abilities, learn effectively and work productively. It is not simply the absence of mental illness, but exists on a continuum and influences how we think, feel, behave and interact with others.
Process
A process is the step-by-step completion of activities in a specific order to achieve an objective, as illustrated by the previous house renovation example. The same principle can be seen in healthcare: a person experiencing symptoms may make an appointment, consult a doctor, discuss their symptoms, undergo assessment, receive a treatment plan and follow the recommended treatment. Each step contributes to a structured pathway towards the intended health outcome.
Engineering
Engineering is the practical application of science, mathematics, and creativity to design, build, and maintain structures, machines, systems, and processes. Engineering serves as the bridge between scientific discovery and real-world solutions.
By definition, Mental Health Process Engineering (MHPE) is the practical application of science and the execution of structured processes to ensure that a person's mental health is in a state that enables them to cope with life's stresses, realise their abilities, learn effectively, work productively, and optimise their overall quality of life.
The science of mental health has developed over many years, providing a strong knowledge base to support mental health care. Applying this knowledge through education can help individuals better understand their mental health, possible triggers, treatment options and what to expect from the process. Providing this information helps prepare individuals for the road ahead and supports their active participation in a structured approach to managing their mental health. Without a basic understanding of mental health concepts and the treatment process, individuals may be less equipped to engage meaningfully in their care. Adopting the MHPE methodology and using MY DAISY could assist in that regard.
Data is an important part of the scientific approach to mental health management. It helps build an understanding of an individual’s current mental health and can support treatment planning and ongoing monitoring. Much of this information comes directly from the individual, making their active participation an important part of the process. Mental health data is often gathered through structured questions, and MHPE uses this approach by asking individuals to self-assess specific areas of their mental health and indicate how they are currently managing: red indicates difficulty coping, amber indicates that a help phase has commenced, yellow indicates that the issue is now under control, and green indicates no significant issue. Each response is allocated a score that can be calculated and presented to support assessment and monitoring over time. For example, when asked about mood swings, an individual identifies whether this is an area of concern, allowing the healthcare professional, counsellor or support worker to focus support on the areas where difficulties have been identified.
MHPE focuses on 17 mental health-related aspects. During the initial assessment, individuals respond to each aspect by selecting either a red, amber, yellow or green answer, as described above. These responses are then used to determine an overall baseline score. Generally, a higher number of red responses results in a lower overall score, indicating more significant mental health concerns. Since mental health affects quality of life, fewer identified issues indicate a higher quality of life. For this reason, MHPE uses a 10-point scale, where 10 represents the best possible quality of life and 0 the worst.
Part III: MY DAISY Platform
To support the MHPE methodology, the Founder created a fully developed web-based system, MY DAISY. MY DAISY includes two integrated portals: a Public Portal and a Health Professionals' Portal. The Public Portal is designed for members of the general public who wish to improve their mental health, while the Health Professionals' Portal assists practitioners in supporting their clients or patients through structured mental health treatment.
The Public Portal includes a standard registration process. Once registered, users are granted access to the system's home page. Because MHPE is process-focused, the platform provides a simple Five-Step Plan, outlined as follows:
In addition, MY DAISY includes a feature that allows users to record diary entries for each aspect of mental health. This allows individuals to document events that have impacted them and their ability to cope, which may, in turn, influence their mental health and quality of life. It is also important that users have access to the data they have recorded. If a relapse occurs and further treatment is required, including the possible use of medication, previously recorded medications and treatment plans can be easily revisited to support ongoing care and informed decision-making.
Therefore, as described, MY DAISY provides a mental health management process supported by an integrated internet-based system that assists with assessing a person's mental health and records this information. Within the Health Professionals' Portal, practitioners can use the system's search function to add a person's data to their patient list. The healthcare professional can review the information and determine appropriate treatment, if required. This process takes place within the secure, online system. Once this occurs, the treatment phase begins, and the person becomes a patient or client of the health professional. Treatment may include counselling, medication, psychotherapy, support from allied health professionals, and self-help strategies.
During the treatment phase, the patient is expected to repeat the Five-Step Plan before each consultation. This allows both the patient and the healthcare professional to monitor and discuss progress. It also helps the professional identify any medication side effects and track the mental health issues that require attention.
The system supports the following main functions:
MY DAISY provides the following benefits for members of the public (referred to as patients or clients):
MY DAISY provides the following benefits for health professionals:
In Step 1, MY DAISY emphasises the importance of the user's ongoing commitment throughout the assessment process, the identification of mental health concerns, and the treatment phase. Meaningful progress requires active engagement with the agreed treatment plan. This is particularly important in the context of mental health, where coping with daily challenges while addressing underlying concerns can be difficult. Remaining engaged throughout the process may help individuals work through these concerns more effectively and reduce the likelihood that they remain unresolved. For this reason, Step 1 requests users to confirm their commitment as an ongoing reminder to stay engaged throughout their mental health treatment journey.
If mental health concerns are identified, a treatment plan may be required that includes one or more interventions, such as medication, psychotherapy, dietary changes, rehabilitation, exercise, or other appropriate strategies. With the MY DAISY methodology and the adopted MHPE, users are encouraged to be the primary drivers in addressing their mental health concerns, with support from healthcare professionals and others as needed. This includes keeping their treatment information up to date through Step 2. This is a simple process, and the layout is designed to take only a couple of minutes. If medication is prescribed, the type of medication is recorded, along with any side effects experienced. This information forms part of the user's ongoing records/data and can assist in monitoring progress, recognising improvements, or identifying when changes may be required.
Finding a medication that achieves the desired outcome while minimising side effects can sometimes take time. Maintaining a record of previous medications, including any experienced side effects and the reasons they were discontinued, provides valuable information that may assist future treatment decisions, particularly if treatment is required again following a relapse.
The Founder of MY DAISY has identified 17 mental health aspects that, collectively, provide a broad representation of key areas associated with mental health and wellbeing. Each aspect represents a specific area assessed within the questionnaire, such as sleep, mood, anxiety, motivation, or appetite. As part of the assessment, users select one of four responses for each aspect. For example, for the sleep aspect, the response options are "Need help with sleep," "Receiving help with sleep," "Sleep was an issue; however, it is now under control," or "Do not need help with sleep." These responses are designed to reflect the individual's current status rather than their level of agreement. As such, they differ from the traditional response options of "Strongly agree," "Agree," "Neutral," "Disagree," and "Strongly disagree" commonly used in many assessment tools.
With the MY DAISY assessment, users are required to consider each aspect of mental health and determine whether it is an area in which they require help. Ultimately, you either have an issue with an aspect, or you don't. If there is an issue, whether small or significant, identify it and address it. The fewer issues we carry, the better our mental health and overall quality of life. The response options to these questions are explained in detail in the MY DAISY information video. Based on the user's responses, the healthcare professional, counsellor, or support worker assisting the user will have a clear understanding of which aspects of mental health require attention during treatment.
To track progress, a benchmark must first be established. For that purpose, MY DAISY calculates a score on a scale from 0 to 10. A low score indicates a quality of life heavily affected by mental health concerns. This score is further categorised into a risk zone and shown on a "stopwatch", called the MY DAISY Stopwatch Reading. With the benchmark score set and a treatment plan in place, this score ideally needs to improve during the treatment phase. MY DAISY's Step 4 provides all this data to the user in an easy-to-follow format. It also categorises the user's response selections, which again assist the user by focusing on the mental health aspects where help is needed.
Step 5 provides a link to a PDF report that presents all the data in an easy-to-follow, four-page format. It provides a summary of the user's treatment plan, showing medication (if taken), side effects (if any), other treatments, and related information. It shows the user's response selections categorised into red, amber, yellow, and green, together with the MY DAISY Stopwatch Reading displayed in a graph. A successful treatment plan will show an upward trend in the graph. Tracking data is key to following a process and achieving success in business, sport, adventure, and many other areas of life, and supporting successful mental health outcomes is no different. This PDF report provides all the data needed in a dashboard-style format for ongoing use and review.
Diary Entries
In addition to the Five-Step Plan, MY DAISY provides a page for recording diary entries. This is particularly useful for recording information regarding a specific aspect of mental health, reflecting actual events that influenced the user’s position. When something is written down, it provides a structured format for what someone is thinking. Thoughts influence mood, and it is important to capture them in writing. This can help the user think more clearly about the situation at hand. When assistance is provided to address the situation or mental health aspect, the user can also record this information under that aspect for future use and reference. With the user's permission, the healthcare professional assisting them can access their MY DAISY data, including their diary entries. On this basis, users can be tasked with providing descriptive information about issues as they occurred, including their causes. Health professionals can then assess and review this information during consultations and the treatment phase.
A Daisy (flower) image
This page in MY DAISY features a daisy with 17 petals, each representing a mental health question. A written description of the mental health aspect is shown on each petal, and the petal's colour (red, amber, yellow, or green) reflects the user's selected response. The user's Daisy is displayed alongside an ideal Daisy, providing a visual representation of the user's current mental health status. This tool encourages the user to continue following the process, address identified issues and ultimately work towards the ideal Daisy.
Global data show a growing demand for mental health support. At the same time, there are substantial financial pressures associated with providing sufficient support and a significant shortfall in available resources. These challenges highlight the need for smarter and more innovative approaches to supporting mental health. Combined with innovation, a culture can be established in mental health treatment that holds patients accountable for actively participating as the primary team player in their own treatment. This encourages patients to take control of their situation rather than depending on others to resolve their problems. To assist patients in this primary role, the Founder has created a supporting process and system designed to improve outcomes. In addition, if MHPE and the MY DAISY process are introduced to young people and consistently followed, they have the potential to enable early intervention and help reduce the build-up of unresolved issues that may contribute to future severe depression and mental health breakdowns. Therefore, programs can be developed to raise awareness among young people about MHPE and the MY DAISY structured process.
Click on each of the symbols and follow the instructions on the right. Start with the red symbol labelled “Your starting position” and proceed clockwise. Each face symbol represents a consultation meeting with a Health Professional. The number of symbols shown per phase is indicative only and may vary as some cases and circumstances are more complex than others.
Direct communication channel regarding the MHPE protocol or platform licensing.