Wednesday 16 May 2012

Online Communities - Depression

For this tutorial I will discuss three online communities which are related to Depression. Therapists are able to encourage and recommend clients to seek these online communities to help guide the client if they want to find out more ways of coping, and knowledge on Depression aswell as ways to manage depression.  Social networking can benefit people in finding supports in online communities; this is especially true for youth who have unique interests or feel isolated. Online communities can encourage youth to find others who are may be dealing with similar issues. The following online communities can enable the good mental health of young people who are vulnerable or marginalised and can facilitate good mental health for young people experiencing mental health problems. (The Benefits of Social Networking, 2012).

Three online communities which I have found in relation to depression are; depression helpline, The low down and SAVE; Youth Depression.

Depression Helpline

The depression helpline is ran by the face of John Kirwan, a well-known ex All Black. He discusses the methods of getting through ways of depression and asks you questions on your current state of mind, once you answer a questionnaire he gives you ways of getting help and walks you through some coping mechanisms. One of the main purposes of this site is to help people with depression understand that it is okay to get help, and that help is available. It provides education on depression awareness, information and support. This community discusses the causes, provides an 0800 helpline and contacts which could help you if you ever need someone to talk too.

This community can be found at http://www.depression.org.nz

The Low down.

The purpose of the low down online community is to help young kiwis understand and deal with depression. This site is run by “Navigators” which navigate you and take you through the website. The navigators are Sonia Grey - TV Presenter, Dave Gibson - Singer, Jane Yee - TV Presenter and Awa – Singer . Navigators can tell you of their stories and you are able to listen to others. The site is very interactive in that you are able to chat, listen to music, and participate in polls.

This website can be found at http://www.thelowdown.co.nz

SAVE; Youth Depression

SAVE is an awareness website which addresses youth with depression which may be having other mental health problems. It addresses that suicidal children and adolescents have clinical depression alone or in conjunction with another mental illness like anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder, bipolar illness (manic depression), or child-onset schizophrenia. It recognizes that through treating children they can improve the chances a young person with depression can live a longer, healthier, more quality life. This website has many of the symptoms to look out for under the sub headings of verbal cues, behavioural cues, high risk children, childs attempt at suicide behaviour and treatment, what to do, and how to get help. It has a tool bar down the side which has many options from how to cope with loss, new and events and a “lets talk about it program”. It also provides a depression checklist, a newsletter sign up and a helpline.

This community can be found at http://www.save.org

People have the options of contributing to each of the online communities. This is evident through chat rooms, music, quizzes, polls, and donations to the organisations. People may want to contribute for many reasons. Sharing their own stories, to be a part of a community, seek help for themselves or a peer, discover ways of coping and supporting these networks. Information is shared both ways, as the communities provide information as well as allowing the user to participate through chat rooms or story entries. All three of these communities address and can relate to the concept of occupational justice which refers “to that aspect of social justice that pertains to human occupation or the lack of opportunity thereof”. The sites provide for users’ needs and allow users to fully occupy within the webpage to express there, feelings, needs and queries through discussion, online chat forums and helplines. Another concpet these communities relate to is that of Occupational transition. Occupational transition is 'the changes to occupational engagement as a result of changes in daily life' (Christiansen & Townsend, 2010). Through these online communities each community aims to provide the user with ways to cope, manage and get through depression. The sites aim to help provide tips and mechanisms as an effective tool to encourage positive participation in occupations to ultimately improve mental health.

References
Christiansen, C.H., & Townsend, E.A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living. (2nd Eds.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Depression. (2012). Get through it. Retrieved from http://www.depression.org.nz/?gclid=CMLFq5_JhLACFfBSpgodvEFtjQ

New Zealand Government. (2012). The low down. Retrieved from           http://www.thelowdown.co.nz/#/home/

The Benefits of social Networking. (2012). Services. Retrieved from http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved
Web definitions. (2012). Occupational Justice. Retrieved from  https://www.google.co.nz/#hl=en&q=occupational+justice&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=

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