Features you'd like to see in an ideal mental health site

I think somebody said something similar, but how about a link to the government site so that people can find out what is available to them when they have to take time off from work, financial assistance, what their 'rights' are, what their employer can or cannot do, confidentiality issues, etc.

When I first went online I was looking for a site that was compassionte and caring and understanding of what I needeed to find out abut my new disorder "depression" and "OCD" I had never heard of these two tearms before and was scared out of my mind..

I was in a good marriage or so I thought and looking for sties I looked at how many members it had, and all of the wealth of informatoin on each disorder it has...

The one thing to remember knowledge is power, and if you have the knowledge you have the power to overcome anythign.. SO more information on disorders and up to date info from this last year would be really nice..

I also think anything that would effect the mental health world should be somewhere on the site,
like any new drugs avabile with all info ,
link to drug sites where we can or could get help when we lose our insurance
Maybe a self help area where if we wanted to talk to doctors maybe it would be online and not cost a fourtune for us to use, it..
More access to the site, have it listed on as many search engiens as possible, I know how hard it is to get on there, but hey, you said the sky is the limit..

ff_topic: lol what did someone say that gave us such ads??? colon cleanse and colonblow.com rofl

I agree about meds info.. having an active pharmacist or two replying to questions is necessary too, imo.(putting it on my ideal list)

Often I've found that mental health websites create a sort of "us and them" situation; the experts, and those who are going through it. Questions often aren't answered by the 'experts', and a sense of community is created between the members on forums, rather than ideally between the members AND the experts. More interaction would be fantasic .

An ideal mental health site would have support groups with "voice" chat rooms........ And I like the idea of having "success" stories....and lots and lots of cool smiliesssss...

Perhaps members could have a "mood scale" attached to their account. If they chose, they could indicate how they're feeling on a scale from 0 (very bad) to 100 (very good), and that number would be used to change an icon next to their name on the site's forums and chats. This way, people would know right away how someone is doing...it might even help them interpret some of the things the person says.

Ben I think that is an excellent idea!!!!!! So many times we dont know where one is coming from or why. That would be a tremendous help I think! Good on you for thinking of this!

Hugz~
Bethy

That is a good idea... but it needs to be a permanent marker... not one that changes in all posts whenever it's changed day by day? (Example here: avatar. I have used many avatars, but the one that shows even on posts from 2 years ago, is only the current one.) So this would need to be one of those icons to select along with the other types of info we could select for post... but it would be easier if that could be set for whenever we sign on ... sign in with s/n password and icon showing HOW WE ARE FEELING ?? lol that would be good I agree!

I'd like to see a forum about sexuality issues.
Perhaps even a Gay/Bi/Lesbian forum to offer hope and support.

How about... <ul type="square">
[*]access to a virtual reality forum, for work on phobias , etc[*]virtual reality therapy sessions[/list]

I find it hard to seriously entertain the question in the hostile climate I encountered in responce sincere critiques and floated ideas and other of my quests for and to help so am very hesitant to offer any assistance to this site. I wish it were other wise and hope it might be yet. I think I have some but.... maybe AFTER more conflict resolution happens.

~Down

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I agree with Perzephone as well . I would like to see lots and lots of readily available references for us as far as local therapists etc. An area where there are list of several psychiatrists,psychologists etc. that not only list thier title like : Dr. so and so PhD, but what area of thearapy they specialize in, how much experiance they have with whatever specific concern we have,which insurances they take and if they are taking new patients( up to the minute info ) and thier nature as a human being as far as compassion goes. I seem to be having that kind of trouble at the moment in finding a therapist and my insurance company cant seem to give me any better information.

I think on an "ideal" site... there would be additional forums for those with that specific disorder only.

I'd like to see the ORIGINATING icon be the default icon for that thread. Or have it be a static icon, with allowance for additional feeling icons that were suggested.

How about.... <font color="darkblue">[list][*]capability to organize PMs by sender, AND topic and to keep both sent and received in same area

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
increased percentage of members who are designated as aides for certain forums. or disorders... who are capable and willing to help (but not moderate), reply to PMs, meet in chat etc ... (whom new members can contact from the online members)

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I like this one, Sky

When I personally came here and signed up, I didn't have a dx...I just knew this is the kind of place I needed to be. I turned out to be right, but many (at that time) weren't sure how to talk to someone who wasn't already dx'd, had a T...someone as clueless as I was about mental health in general. I think the above quote, aides or mentors or what have you...would help the unsure to feel more safe to opening up and getting help. They would feel more like they belonged, not just visiting..it would be more welcoming. Not that everyone would like it, but I know I would have. =)

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>

Perhaps members could have a "mood scale" attached to their account. If they chose, they could indicate how they're feeling on a scale from 0 (very bad) to 100 (very good), and that number would be used to change an icon next to their name on the site's forums and chats. This way, people would know right away how someone is doing...it might even help them interpret some of the things the person says.

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LOVE this idea, Ben

Lists, perhaps, of ways (to use personal experience) to go outside your comfort zone. One of my big ones is isolation, my T had me go out and do something X times a week...setting goals to increase the number of times or the total time spent out each month. Just exercises to help in areas such exercises help.

I also like the suggestions for a positive story/experience forum, sometimes a small gesture made can make my day...and have read others experiences (usually in general or social--which doesn't really seem to fit, to me) and had them touch me in a positive way. A whole category like this could help when I (and hopefully others) are feeling very down and could use a little reminder that there IS good in others, and in the world in general.

Members/Users/Visitors could hook up with an accountability buddy. They would share their goals and/or action plan for getting better with the buddy, and the buddy would hold them accountable for getting it done, and vice-versa.

This one is pretty radical, but I think it could do a lot of good...

I'd rather not break the forum down into disorder-specific boards. While it's nice to know you're hanging with people with similar problems, it just seems so often that a person's diagnosis changes, or isn't clear-cut to begin with. The end-result is that people often jump from board to board without feeling like they really have a home. (Think about those "I guess I should be here now" posts.) Also, so many people have multiple disorders that it seems a shame to divide their energy between two or more boards. Finally, there are an awful lot of posts that deal with more than one issue, and just trying to pick the most appropriate board is not really satisfactory -- also, some people that don't frequent that particular board wouldn't see it.

The solution? One big board.

The catch is this: In addition to giving each post a title, the author also picks one or more "tags" to label the post. (For example, if you're writing a post dealing just with self-harm, you would choose the "Self Harm" tag. If your post deals with sexuality and depression, you would choose both the "Sexuality" and "Depression" tags.) That way, if people could still sort by tags if they wanted...i.e. they could see only "Anxiety" if they wanted...but they could also view all kinds of other posts about different topics without feeling that they're leaving their home base.

My thinking on the dx'd only forum would be in ADDITION to a general dx forum (i.e. A depression forum like we have, and an additional depression dx'd only (preferably) so only those who really understand would reply (no hard, fast, but "honor system" guidelines)...

And, I was thinking we all need to list the things we really like here at PC so the "ideal" site doesn't overlook and forget to include them!

I would like a rule where people cannot demand private info about another, eg tell me the name of your T? Its uncomfortable.

(((((allthegirls6)))))

Did somebody do that to you? Boy I hope not!

Oh, i wouold also like to be able to PM more than one person at a time. We could set up groups of people, like contact groups and send them all a PM at the same time

like a "conference" call is what I'm thinking... more than one on the same conversation WHILE IN forums! Guess you just gotta be there to know why!