“Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health” (World Health Organization, 2014). Furthermore, the World Health Organization website (WHO) defines mental health as: “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (World Health Organization, 2014). In the United States, the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health was deemed by Holloway (2003) as the most “comprehensive study of the nation’s public and private mental health delivery system since President Jimmy Carter’s 1978 Mental Health Commission” (p. 20).
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For example, the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI) states that one in four adults, that is approximately 61.5 million Americans, experience a mental health issue such as schizophrenia or depression (NAMI, 2013). Additionally, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that in the year 2006, the most recent report in their website, Americans spent $57.5 billion dollars in mental health services (NIMH, 2014) whilst the United States government spends $71 billion on mental health illnesses (Holloway, 2003). There is also the human cost to mental health illnesses such as suicide being the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (NAMI, …show more content…
The practice of online mental health services has been coined with different terms such as etherapy, online therapy, Internet therapy, or cybertherapy. Yet, there is still some debate on the use of the Internet interventions in mental health, the primary argument against the Internet is the lack of verbal communication (Barak, Hen, Boniel-Nissim & Shapira, 2008). However, it is the lack of eye-contact and the virtual anonymity that users find the most useful when it comes to online therapy (Barak, Boniel-Nissim, & Suler, 2008). Another concern was the dependency on technology in order to provide therapy (Barak, Hen, Boniel-Nissim & Shapira, 2008). Yet, there are advantages to providing online psychotherapy given that it becomes possible to reach individuals who may not be reached by more traditional means (King, Spooner, & Reid, 2003). Online interventions also offer individuals increased privacy and anonymity and can offer a cost-effective method that more readily addresses persons, who live in isolated geographic areas, even reaching disenfranchised and minority populations (Changrani, Lieberman, Golant, Rios, Damman, & Gary, 2008). Utilizing the Internet for health promotion allows to reach people in their own home and with personalized messages in their own time (Dedding, van Doorn, Winkler, & Reis, 2011). For example, adolescents are more likely to
For example, the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI) states that one in four adults, that is approximately 61.5 million Americans, experience a mental health issue such as schizophrenia or depression (NAMI, 2013). Additionally, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that in the year 2006, the most recent report in their website, Americans spent $57.5 billion dollars in mental health services (NIMH, 2014) whilst the United States government spends $71 billion on mental health illnesses (Holloway, 2003). There is also the human cost to mental health illnesses such as suicide being the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (NAMI, …show more content…
The practice of online mental health services has been coined with different terms such as etherapy, online therapy, Internet therapy, or cybertherapy. Yet, there is still some debate on the use of the Internet interventions in mental health, the primary argument against the Internet is the lack of verbal communication (Barak, Hen, Boniel-Nissim & Shapira, 2008). However, it is the lack of eye-contact and the virtual anonymity that users find the most useful when it comes to online therapy (Barak, Boniel-Nissim, & Suler, 2008). Another concern was the dependency on technology in order to provide therapy (Barak, Hen, Boniel-Nissim & Shapira, 2008). Yet, there are advantages to providing online psychotherapy given that it becomes possible to reach individuals who may not be reached by more traditional means (King, Spooner, & Reid, 2003). Online interventions also offer individuals increased privacy and anonymity and can offer a cost-effective method that more readily addresses persons, who live in isolated geographic areas, even reaching disenfranchised and minority populations (Changrani, Lieberman, Golant, Rios, Damman, & Gary, 2008). Utilizing the Internet for health promotion allows to reach people in their own home and with personalized messages in their own time (Dedding, van Doorn, Winkler, & Reis, 2011). For example, adolescents are more likely to