What does social media do for mental health?

• social media gives us a bigger voice and more choice without the fear of stigma.
• social media can help change laws that govern society and the workplace.
• further insight, inspiration, and communication
• recently lost my best friend…not in a good state of mind. My twitter friends, I believe, are saving my life
• Blogging has been a source of healing and also an avenue for spreading awareness, as well
• the transparency of social media is a wonderful antidote against the stigma associated with #mentalhealth

Mental Health in the work place

• companies lose a lot of $ from employees in denial or fear about dealing w/ #mentalhealth issues
• maybe we should call out employers who stigmatize employees with #mentalhealth problems.
• i wouldn’t want to work for an employer that had a problem that i openly talk about #mentalhealth

Stigma

• labels are neutral. can be used for good ie find diagnosis, treatment, resources or for harm ie stigmatizers
• calling out stigmatizers is not just for you but for others too afraid to call stigmatizers out
• there can be stigma attached to talking openly about mental health but sometimes you also find unexpected support.
• One thing I have noticed lately is that when one opens up on Twitter about struggles, there can be a stigma attached.

Misinformation

• we should remember that misinformation is also a problem outside of social media and the internet
• Is misinformation a “big” problem regarding #mentalhealth and social media?
• around the topic of #ADHD the ignorance & stigma on social media esp twitter far outweighs the facts

Therapy

• therapy and social media – maybe social media will change therapy the way it has other ways of communication?
• Perhaps it can…even in subtle ways… e.g. homework: blog about so and so this week

Impact of changing the Japanese term for “schizophrenia” for reasons of stereotypical beliefs of schizophrenia in Japanese youth

Hidehiko Takahashia, Takashi Idenoc, Shigetaka Okuboc, et al.

Abstract

The old term for schizophrenia, “Seishin-Bunretsu-Byo” (Mind-Split Disease), has been replaced by “Togo-Shitcho-Sho” (Integration Disorder) in Japan. Stigma research requiring individuals to report personal beliefs is useful but is subject to social desirability bias. Using the Implicit Association Test, a measurement designed to minimize this bias, we assessed the impact of this renaming on the stereotype of schizophrenia held by a younger generation. The old term was strongly associated with “criminal”, and this association became significantly weaker with the new term. The strategy of renaming holds considerable promise for tempering negative bias toward this disorder in Japan.

There is an immediate gratification when using social media. Simply by typing a word, phrase or sentence and hitting publish or enter one can release a thought, idea, response or inquiry into the unknown. One can release: that is the beauty of it. You can release that pent up anger, happiness, love ad nauseum. This unknown can even respond, add to or reject what you say within mere seconds or, years down the road as it’s all cached, recorded, re-hashed and echoed into the tubes. What a wondrous extension of the human psyche we are privy to these days.

I only imagined this possible in 1998 after going into remission from Chron’s disease and leaving my ex-husband shortly after in 2000 and living on my own for the first time. That option didn’t exist in 2000 for me as a print graphic designer. Social Media was a dream and blogging was in its infancy, privy only to those who knew HTML.

You begin to build a thick skin that perhaps didn’t exist offline; a protective barrier from those who are out to maim, spam or say unjust and untrue things about you. I find I carry that thick skin into real life now but prefer the comfort of home to holding a real job. The real job made me sick; made me thirst for drugs.

Eventually, that pent up emotion will focus into your own self-guided online universe and it will evolve into whatever you want it to be.

And yes this job of blogging, twittering, facebooking, selling on Etsy, posting to flickr and sharing my thoughts and ideas on umpteen sites is demanding, and at times I do wonder why, I continue …  simply put: I love it. It’s easy for me to do. I experience an issue, I write, research and google until I find the answer. If no answer can be found I move onto the next task and usually a few days, weeks or months later the issue presents itself again and the answer is clear. Problem solved.

This isn’t to say that working online doesn’t get frustrating. It does especially when you are learning something new. As you learn though, each new task will become less tedious and daunting to implement or forget, if in the end it doesn’t fit into what you do.

My coworkers are people I’ve never met in real life. We don’t even share the same boss, office, city or timezone for that matter but we do all work towards a better life of freedom far away from the bureaucracy of offices, collapsing economies and institutions.

The stigma only exists if you don’t talk about it

I think the hardest thing to deal with is rejection online and it was the hardest to deal with offline to. It’s almost as difficult to deal with as elation or appreciation. The feelings are very intense with both and come on so strong at times that it’s all I can do to bear it. I take no prescription drugs having weaned myself off of the Paxil and Valium under the guidance of professionals. There is nothing to mask the emotion I feel at times and at times it does get overwhelming.

And creating daily whether it be drawing, painting, cooking, gardening, writing and even cleaning at times frees my mind of it’s past constraints and learned patterns opening up new frontiers to explore and draw inspiration from.

Limiting one’s time in forums and other social areas of the web is a good idea, too, as they will suck your time and creativity dry if you let them. I learned that the hard way. Haha! If you don’t like crowds in real life chances are you will not like them online. One on one is great. Think of it this way: you sit, write and read alone while someone else sits, types and reads alone from their screen. And escape is just a click away

A quiet life does suit me best.

This isn’t to say that the odd bit of excitement or routine isn’t welcome or wanted but it does mangle my mind into rhythms less understood and more infrequently visited when life turns hectic. I made it to the top of my trade in real life and during that climb up I lost it both mentally and spiritually.

I do pay my due tax. I keep records of ingoing and outgoing business monies. I take breaks when needed. I socialize. I laugh. I live and eat healthy.

Life after Abuse

I do consume alcohol in moderation and choose to stay clear of all hard drugs. GHB (a sedative) was my nemesis, the epitome of all happiness and a cure for my *ADD, **GAD ***PTSD, trichotilomania and tendencies towards OCD. For a short period of time it was my best friend, lover, the companion who traveled everywhere safely tucked inside my purse or handbag and sipped on hourly 24/7 and nearly cost me my life on more than one occasion.

I am 1,318 days sober as of writing this. I am no longer a functioning addict but a functioning adult.

Cheers!
sincerely,
Jessica Doyle

^{*ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder
**GAD – Generalized anxiety Disorder
***PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder}

Darren Barefoot, Julie Szabo and the Mental Health Foundation of BC

Brainstorming Session: Forming an online mental health community – 55 minutes

The Mental Health Foundation of BC wants to build a pair of online communities on two particular topics: mental health in the workplace and mental health and youth. To this effect, they’ll run a brainstorming session to explore what form these communities should take, the issues they should address and the ways they should interact with the larger mental health online space.

Background: The BC Mental Health Foundation is the fundraising arm of the BC Mental Health and Addictions Agency. Their mission is to change the face of mental health by supporting breakthroughs in public understanding, research and knowledge exchange.

Darren Barefoot is a local marketer, writer and technologist. The co-founder of Capulet Communications, a web marketing firm specializing in high-tech and sustainability clients, Darren writes a blog at DarrenBarefoot.com.

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Airdrie Miller

ERROR 404 Page Not Found – 30 minutes

After years of blogging about her personal story, Airdrie Miller decided to take her blog down. What she discovered by doing this is now part of her journey to mental wellness and freedom from the societal stigmatization of people with mental illnesses.

Bio: Airdrie Miller lives in Burnaby, BC. She is a highschool teacher, wife, and mother to two daughters.

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Sandra Kiume

Mental health marketing using social media – 55 minutes

This session will discuss a hashtag suicide prevention experiment on Twitter (#unsuicide) and You Tube video contests that crowdsource mental health anti-stigma PSAs. What do these concepts have in common? Tagging and remixing mental health info into social media, by using new media. People are sharing their experiences and their creativity to help each other in new ways that weren’t technically possible even a few years ago. This is an ideal interactive Twitter discussion session and is intended to inspire some video makers too.

Bio: Sandra Kiume is an early adopter with over a decade of experience blogging about mental health, stigma, and psychological science research. She is a pro blogger at PsychCentral.com as well as a hobby blogger. Vlog Channel N curates brain and behaviour videos, while Twitter account @unsuicide is a unique suicide prevention peer crowdsourcing initiative. For fun, she makes animated Twitter mashup videos and moblogs discarded clothing.

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Isabella Mori

Blogging Ourselves Home – 55 minutes

Blogging as writing, and writing as self expression and creativity: How can we “blog ourselves home” – to a safe, comfortable, relaxed, creative, supportive and healing place from which we can launch ourselves into the world and be brave, wise and have fun as we share our stories and ideas with hundreds and thousands of readers.

The title is reminiscent of Kimberley Snow’s workbook “Writing Yourself Home” that looks at personal growth both on an individual and societal level.

This will be done in an interactive workshop format, and will be informed in part by the writings of James Pennebaker, Kimberley Snow, Louise Desalvo and others.

Bio: Isabella Mori is one of the workshop organizers. A counsellor in Vancouver,  she helps people make a better life for themselves so that they can make the world a better place, and blogs at change therapy.

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Lorraine Murphy

Anonymity and pseudonymity: Freedoms, dangers and responsibilities – 80 minutes

In this presentation I’ll discuss the postive and negative uses of pseudonymity and anonymity, its freedoms, its dangers, and its responsibilities. Indeed, in a world where new identities can be formed at the click of a button, we have a larger burden of duty than we would in one where our reputations could follow us around for the rest of our lives. As well, we will examine the principle of privacy as it applies to online activities, particularly with regard to its limitations. We will touch on role theory as well as look at some examples of sites using the concept of identity in a fluid and creative fashion.

Bio: Lorraine Murphy has been blogging for many years; her flagship blog is raincoaster.  Ms Murphy is the author of Terminal City: Vancouver’s Missing Women. As one of the cornerstone volunteers in the WordPress.com technical help forums, she has long experience helping beginning bloggers develop fluency and achievement online.

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Pete Quily

ADHD – Busting the myths, breaking the stigma, showing reality, one post and tweet at a time – 80 minutes

Pete Quily will give an overview of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), its positive and negative sides, and some of the other conditions that often come with ADHD how it interacts with other diagnoses (e.g. Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, etc.) He will talk about ways to deal with ADHD, famous people with ADHD, and then launch into the stigma of ADHD and its consequences. We’ll discuss

How can social media stigmatize, attack, judge, condemn and trivialize?

How can social media can be used to break the myths and stigma around ADHD and show real people’s stories?

Bio: Pete Quily is an ADHD coach in Vancouver and blogs at Adult ADD Strengths.

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Karen Fung

Mental Health and Cultural Sensitivity – Services and Stigma in Vancouver’s Ethnic Communities

A discussion about the stigma of mental health in ethnic communities, language-specific mental health resources in the Lower Mainland, and mental health services provided to non-English speakers and/or immigrants.

A UBC study looked at how likely doctors from the Chinese Canadian community were to diagnose mental illness, as well as breakdowns of usage of mental health services like counselling.

The discussion will also include the experience of counselling service providers with a focus on services in languages other than English, and whether online visibility through blogging and people sharing their experiences has helped more people to be aware of and/or access their services.

Bio: Karen Quinn Fung is a community-oriented communicator based in Vancouver, B.C. with an incurable knack for combining seemingly-unrelated things in unexpected ways. A Canadian-born, Vancouver-raised youngest child of immigrants, Karen received her bachelor’s degree in Communication in 2008, focusing on the interaction of society with technology. Her latest focus is the master’s program in sustainable urban design and transportation planning at UBC.

Twitter – @counti8; blog – http://www.countablyinfinite.ca

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Dr. Keely Kolmes

Social Networking, Visibility, and the Therapeutic Alliance – 55 minutes

How do clients and therapists feel about sharing online social spaces? Come participate in a conversation for therapists and clients alike to explore how these issues are coming up in the therapeutic relationship. This talk involves high audience participation and will provide a unique opportunity for both clients and therapists to share ideas and to explore the intersection between online space and therapy.

Bio: Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco. She has also been a staff psychologist at Stanford University’s Counseling & Psychological Services for the past six years where she has treated students dealing with anxiety, depression, OCD, sexuality, relationships, and identity in their online and offline lives.. She is fascinated with the intra and interpersonal challenges and opportunities presented by the Web 2.0 world. Her full C.V. and blog are available on her website.  She can also be followed on Twitter as drkkolmes

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Taryn Gunter, Canadian Mental Health Association, Vancouver/Burnaby Branch

Tales from a Rookie, Or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love to Blog – 30 minutes

Why we, as an organization, decided to get involved with blogging and other social media; the joys of lurkerhood – social media use by “regular” folks; reaching out to people who don’t the CMHA’s resources regularly; and using social media as a more organic way to be accountable to our participants, to the community, and to each other.

Background: CMHA Van/Bby has a track record of developing many of the most innovative and effective new approaches to realing with mental illness available in the community today. Its response to the crisis of mental illness ranges from prevention, education, and information services, right through to rehabilitation and community support to those recovering from mental illness.

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Terra aka @zoeyjane

Stigma – Challenging Perceptions – 80 minutes

Stigma is only present when we let it be.

Terra will speak about her experience as a mommy blogger who struggles with mental health issues, and the real-life consequences of that.

Because she is outspoken, she is known in some circles as a ‘real’ blogger and writer, one of the few moms who are blatantly honest about the struggles of parenting with mental illness (or hell, even with toddlers), and the ways we cope. She is often someone people feel comfortable letting their demons out to, or to ask for advice from.

Terra will ask questions like, what does a person with bipolar disorder (supposedly) act like? What is a mommy blogger? Does someone with bipolar disorder have the ability to parent?

She’ll delve a little into her own history and will give examples of other mommy bloggers who are “out” about living with mental illness.

Talking about mental illness is starting to become accepted now, not something to hide, in shame, as it was even three years ago. Even in the momosphere.

Bio: Terra is a Vancouver-based freelance writer and blogger. A single mother with a string of diagnoses in her past, she thrives in the beautiful West End with her two year old daughter. Her blog is Mommy Is Moody

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Christine Rondeau

Give your brain a rest with Yoga Nidra – 15 minutes

Our brains are constantly on the go, thinking, worrying, dwelling on past events and sometimes focusing too much on the negative. Wouldn’t it be great if you could give your brain a break and it to be more positive? Yoga Nidra can do just that and all you need is 10 minutes. Even better is the fact that you can do this sitting down while listening to your iPod. In this short demonstration, we’ll take you through a very brief session to show you how great it can make you feel.

Bio: Christine Rondeau has been practicing yoga for over 5 years. Initially focused on healing a physical injury, she soon realized that the mental benefits were quite substantial. She now maintains a regular yoga “diet” that keeps her sane and happy. Christine’s online home is at Blue Lime Media

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Raul Pacheco

Telling Your Personal Story via Social Media Tools as a Method to Cope with Mild Depression Associated with Academic Pressure

I am an academic, although I claim no knowledge of mental illness. However, there have been a few instances during my academic career that I have felt down, maybe even depressed. I started blogging as a diversion, a distraction and now I can safely say that when I am having even a very mild case of depression, I use social media tools as a coping mechanism. I am going to share my story in hopes that it may encourage those who feel the pressure of academic success to release frustrations and/or deal with depression via blogging/twittering.

Bio: Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega (PhD, The University of British Columbia) is a Vancouver-based educator, researcher and consultant in the field of environmental policy, who happens to blog. He has 3 years of experience sharing his day-to-day life in Vancouver and is passionate about de-stigmatizing issues associated with mental health. He also firmly believes that sharing one’s story is just one of the many pathways to alleviate depression and other similar mental ills.

And I’m hoping that’s where social media can really make some inroads. For one thing, it’s always there – you can post to a blog or go on to Twitter at any time. And when you feel you have no one to talk to, no friend to call, it’s nice to know that you can find whole communities of people who may be dealing with some of the same things as you or even just fellow twitterers to help distract you from what you may be going through.

When I first « came out » as having a mental illness, I was really hoping – almost expecting that I would be accepted, even embraced by those around me. That it would now be easier to get the support I needed – but that wasn’t the case at all. If anything, I felt that people would use my diagnosis against me – in ways that even affected my daughter. Friends, family, colleagues, the government, it seemed like I was taken dismissed as being almost a lesser person because of my diagnosis.

When I started my first twitter account about three months ago, I was worried about what to put in my bio because having a mental illness is a big part of who I am. But I decided to be open about my struggles, and for the first time, I was embraced for it. People followed me BECAUSE of my diagnosis, not IN SPITE of it. If I tweet that I am feeling down, people respond with virtual hugs.

And I have found out about things like the Coping Digitally panel at Northern Voices, MentalHealthCamp and other events, ressources and contacts where I can be be myself, be proud of who I am and – the best thing of all – not have to feel lost, alone or helpless.

My goal for MentalHealthCamp is of course to expand my knowledge of both mental illness and social media, but most of all, I’m looking forward to meeting in person the people I have met online and coming up with new ways to fight both mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it online and off.

As the date for Mental Health Camp approaches, I find myself more and more excited. I’m not excited at attending; unfortunately, being a poor student doesn’t lend itself to travel so much. But what I’ve read so far, and the very prospect of discussing the stigma of mental illness and how to combat it with emerging technology, really make me hopeful, not to mention glad that someone is taking up the cause.

I’m a firm believer in developmental models; aspects of our culture don’t just appear, they develop from previous and current cultures rather organically. Views of mental health, and accompanying stigma, are no different. Current cultural perceptions of mental health are connected to those of the past, and in confronting the stigma we deal with today, it’s important to look at all three spots on the timeline: past history, present realities, and future possibilities. This is by no means a comprehensive view; more, what I consider an interesting snippet of the subject.

Mental Illness in History

Most of us are familiar with some aspects of the history of abnormal psychology. The theory of humours is well-documented, and while important, doesn’t have as much of an effect on current opinion as cultural and religious views. Humours were the topic of physicians and philosophers, the experts of their time; for present purposes, it’s more important to consult the non-experts. I want to ferret out a few cases and aspects that I think are important to note.

When looking at the history of medical science, few cultures were more important than the ancient Greeks. They provided, arguably, most of the underpinnings that allowed step-by-step progression from religion and superstition to empiricism. However, it needs to be acknowledged that what have come to be seen as game-changing philosophies weren’t representative of the culture at large, only a select few (harkening back to the “experts versus non-experts” theme). To get a better cultural cross-section of the Greeks, an example from their literature and mythology is warranted. Aeschylus’ Eumenides, part of his Oresteia, presents us with the story of Orestes being pursued by the three Erinyes (Furies), goddesses intent on driving him mad in revenge for killing his mother. Another story has one Erinye, Tisiphonie, drive mad King Athamas for a wrong committed against the goddess Hera. Further mythology about the three dreaded goddesses follow suit. The Erinyes are seen in Greek mythology as beings of balance who act out of revenge for universal wrongs. The implication is clear: madness was inflicted upon mortals for transgressing against universal norms as well as deities.

The Greeks’ was not the only religious viewpoint that spoke along those lines. Saint Augustine, arguably one of the most important figures in western Christianity, considered depression to be a sign of disfavor from God. To that can be added the Job reference about being tested by God; given that context, depression becomes something to endure but not complain about. The Quran of Islam carries a similar philosophy of purification through trial, as well as punishment for misdoings, that have been applied to depression and similar topics.

However, there are some cases that throw any absolutist statement about any religion or culture in history out the window, as regards treatment of mentally ill. Often, society’s reaction to an individual’s mental illness depended on that individual’s position and finances. But there were rare cases where social status had nothing to do with the acceptance or at least tolerance found. Socrates himself spoke of the benefits of mental illness, believing it was a divine gift. But up until the 18th century, the general view was both theological and stigmatic.

Consider Christina the Astonishing (1150-1224). Christina was a Belgian who (likely) suffered from epileptic seizures. Just as much or moreso than purely mental illnesses, seizures were often viewed through a demonistic lens, and epileptics were treated accordingly, often shut away or thrust out of communities. However, Christina was venerated by many, and her condition explained in a uniquely theological fashion: during her seizures, she descended to purgatory to provide some respite for sufferers there. Such an explanation set her apart from the normal “lunatics,” as did her periods of calm and rationality between seizures and her embarrassment and shame. While one could say that she internalized the stigma of the time, she also represents a valid exception to it.

There are a number of cases like Christina the Astonishing; sadly, there are many more that conform to the general principle of mental illness especially being demonistic. Such views contribute to the stances we take today, which may be more secular than those of twelfth century Belgians, but that doesn’t mean they’re better.

Views and Stigma in Current Culture

Obviously, stigma’s still a problem. Otherwise we wouldn’t need things like Mental Health Camp (as awesome as it is). People with a range of different diagnoses are described as lazy, spoiled, entitled, frail, weak, or otherwise negatively. We still deal with shock jocks and conservative pundits that describe depressives as “lazy” and tell us to “get over it.” Perhaps this is one of the reasons that, according to a NIMH/Harvard Medical School study, non-Latino white males were the most likely to perceive mental illness stigmatically. It’s hard not to notice a correlation when looking at the racial makeup of conservative talk show listeners like Rush Limbagh and Michael Savage.

Stigma isn’t just media-based, either. It’s sometimes hard to focus on the interpersonal level when everything screams global in this day and age, but it’s necessary. Research done by a nationwide stigma campaign in the UK found that your partner is four times more likely to leave you if you have a mental illness rather than a physical disability. Four times!

We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but all is not lost. Campaigns are increasingly springing up all over the place, Mental Health Camp being one of them. Others are nationwide like UK’s Time for Change. Still others are vocation-based, targeting stigma between police officers or in the military and utilizing technologies like YouTube to spread the message that getting help is okay.

The Future of Stigma….

…is up to you. If you’re reading this, you’re involved. You don’t have to hold a degree or attend a conference. If you’re reading this, you’re involved in the current and future directions that our cultures may adopt regarding mental illness.

Technology can assist us on all sorts of levels. The first is awareness, and relates directly to Mental Health Camp’s goal of integrating destigmatization with social media. Using the web, and specifically facilities like Facebook and Twitter to network and inform, we’re seeing facts and stories being distributed and discussions springing up all over the place. This helps interpersonally as well, as long as we encourage it. The availability of information to a partner, as well as an active support system to be there in the bad times made up of people that have been there, may help save some otherwise untenable relationships.

The second level technology can help us is experiential. Stigma takes a toll, causes isolation. By progressively working from virtual social interactions to real ones, I think virtual reality type technologies can help beat back that five-hundred pound gorilla that perches on your shoulders and constantly shouts “you’ll just embarrass yourself, things will go wrong, just stay home!”

As for me, I’m looking forward to the future. There are a lot of motivated, empowered people out there working for a better one. It’ll be interesting not only to see what the future brings, but how our current attitudes look in hindsight.

This all started with Coping Digitally – click here to see what it’s all about

Thanks to Airdrie for kickstarting everything – here’s a link to her NV09 abstract and her original blog post on the topic.

Thanks to Tod and Isabella for opening up to the world and sharing their stories too. Thanks to Tris as well for sharing his.

Follow up articles:

Isabella’s gathering place for all thoughts on topics and things that need to be discussed – click here to see that blog post.

Raul’s proposal of Mental Health Camp – many useful comments are also stored here – click here to read that blog post

Isabella’s proposal of Mental Health Camp – read the comments – click here to read that blog post

If you want to know when and where Mental Health Camp takes place – go here.