What does an online support group for depression need?
With the advancement of internet technology, there are many communities emerging on the internet. People gather together for various reasons through the internet, and depression is one of them, which is a rather rare aspect that people seldom realize. Due to my personal experience of resorting to online support group for depression, I actually believe that the internet can be an effective medium for offering essential help for depression patients, or even people with other kind of mental health issues as well. However, in order to achieve such goal, the support from social system is indispensable. Below I will mention some methods that I believe will benefit the online support groups for …show more content…
What set human beings apart from animals, in my opinion, is the noble humanity that allows us to sympathize with others’ difficulty, so I think it’s a reasonable expectation that we learn to eliminate the stigma for mental illness. Moreover, there are practical reasons as well. Studies have indicated that people who are labeled with stigma would often internalize it and devalue their self-worth, which is particularly detrimental in the case of depression (Psychology Today). Shun them away would not only make them socially isolated, but also prohibit them from …show more content…
Online psychological counseling can help those who are unable to acquire psychological counseling due to geographic, time and financial restrictions. For example, I am now studying in the US, so it’s nearly impossible for me to seek help from face-to-face counseling because I don’t own a car and the symptoms of depression don’t relapse at a fixed time. With online psychological counseling I believe it can offer people who are stuck in similar situation like me an access to help anytime and everywhere, at an affordable price. Furthermore, I think it would be a good idea that the government or related organizations can establish online supporting groups for depression with paid membership, so that the gross medical cost for the whole community can be divided evenly to every member. According to a study, online psychological counseling is in the increasing trend (Wikipedia), which means it’s in great demand and has substantial effectiveness for helping people with mental issues
With the advancement of internet technology, there are many communities emerging on the internet. People gather together for various reasons through the internet, and depression is one of them, which is a rather rare aspect that people seldom realize. Due to my personal experience of resorting to online support group for depression, I actually believe that the internet can be an effective medium for offering essential help for depression patients, or even people with other kind of mental health issues as well. However, in order to achieve such goal, the support from social system is indispensable. Below I will mention some methods that I believe will benefit the online support groups for …show more content…
What set human beings apart from animals, in my opinion, is the noble humanity that allows us to sympathize with others’ difficulty, so I think it’s a reasonable expectation that we learn to eliminate the stigma for mental illness. Moreover, there are practical reasons as well. Studies have indicated that people who are labeled with stigma would often internalize it and devalue their self-worth, which is particularly detrimental in the case of depression (Psychology Today). Shun them away would not only make them socially isolated, but also prohibit them from …show more content…
Online psychological counseling can help those who are unable to acquire psychological counseling due to geographic, time and financial restrictions. For example, I am now studying in the US, so it’s nearly impossible for me to seek help from face-to-face counseling because I don’t own a car and the symptoms of depression don’t relapse at a fixed time. With online psychological counseling I believe it can offer people who are stuck in similar situation like me an access to help anytime and everywhere, at an affordable price. Furthermore, I think it would be a good idea that the government or related organizations can establish online supporting groups for depression with paid membership, so that the gross medical cost for the whole community can be divided evenly to every member. According to a study, online psychological counseling is in the increasing trend (Wikipedia), which means it’s in great demand and has substantial effectiveness for helping people with mental issues