I am sure this has been talked about before but I am new to being active on this forum and didn't see any active threads about it. After I have a breakup with my boyfriend of 5 years I felt like I had no one I could really talk to anymore. So I signed up for those online counseling that advertises all over the place. For those not familiar with how it works you get assigned a counselor and there is a private message board between the two of you. You can leave a message whenever you like and they will respond, usually within a few hours. There is also an option to set up an appointment for real time conversation over chat but I have never used that for some reason.

When I first signed up I would write in daily so I seemed like it was much better than trying to get in and paying for appointments with my therapist multiple times a week. I found the advice I would get not as good as what my traditional therapist offered, but I mostly just needed a sounding board without unloading on my friends all the time.

I have been using it for about it year I would say. They give me a discount because if you go and quit and say it is because of the price they ask your income and offer you a discount. I am still paying $70-$90 a month while my normal therapist is $50 a visit (sliding scale, I could save a little more money and go with someone on my insurance but I like her). Lately, I have only been writing in a couple times a week. The urge to just talk to someone all the time has decreased. I have made a couple new friends and am able to sit down and watch tv without the need to be texting someone at the same time.

Because I am on a tight budget I am seriously considering stopping my service with the site and just go back to seeing my normal therapist once a month or so. I am worried I will start unloading on people again and drive them away though. Which I used to constantly do and now I only have one friend I even talk to about it and it is rare. Hearing about my mental illness is not an interesting topic for most people. The outlet is nice to have and while I don't get any insightful advice I get an open ear and positive motivation.

Has anyone here used this service? Stopped using it? Did you feel like something was missing without the round the clock to send in a message?