Where do young people turn when they have questions
about their health? In pre-Internet days, young people would ask
their doctor, a teacher or parents for help if they needed advice.
Getting help involved personal, face-to-face contact. Today, there
is another source to go to when seeking
information. Now that young people all over the
world have access to the Internet, they can turn to search engines
to find information on just about anything, including health
issues.
But why the sudden change?
Young people are now able to remain anonymous while
they search for information and they have a direct line to
literally billions of sources, all in one place. The downside of
this new source of unlimited information is that anyone can answer
the call from young people, and in many cases, they may be getting
the wrong information from the wrong source and not realise it. It
is a catch-22 that can lead to increased pain and suffering for
young people that are relying on strangers to give them
credible
information.
So what can professionals do to make sure that
young people are getting helpful information from credible
sources?
Yahoo! Answers is a popular question and answer
website that allows young people to ask for advice and answers to
any question that goes through their head, be it about a
relationship, answers to math problems, or how to cope with mental
health issues. All a person needs to use the site is a
personalised user name that can be anything they
want it to be. With the ability to remain anonymous, young people
feel free to ask questions that they might not ask in person. They
no longer have to worry what their parents will say or what their
friends will think. This opens a whole new can of worms when it
comes to finding answers and receiving reliable information.
The good thing about remaining anonymous is that
young people are free to ask any question that needs an answer. The
bad thing is that anyone can be answering their questions; it could
be an expert on the topic or someone just trying to mess with
people on the internet while hiding behind a
screen name. Being anonymous is both an advantage
and a disadvantage to helping young people learn about mental
health issues online, so what can professionals do to make sure the
information that young people receive is what they need?
As previously mentioned, anyone with an internet
connection can create a user name on Yahoo, so why not mental
health professionals? A quick glance at the mental health section
of Yahoo! Answers will provide an insightful view to the world of
cyber treatment. If you scroll through the questions, they range
from asking for a diagnosis of their symptoms to asking for help in
bad family environments.
Looking at some of the answers will show that
anyone can add in their two cents on the topic, be it support or
ridicule. But if professionals scanned the website for fifteen
minutes, they would see the need for their expertise. When
answering questions, there is a place to add your resources for
obtaining the information. If young people could see that a
professional has answered their question, they would be able to
rely on the information and begin to resolve their problems.
Professionals could give advice or diagnosis or even set up
counselling appointments in their office.
Here at Reach Out, we use Yahoo! Answers to search
for young peoples' questions about mental health. My role is to
scan the mental health questions and provide an answer that young
people can understand and that gives them information to help them
cope with their problems and eventually leads them to seek
professional help. In the answers, I provide links to our fact
sheets and inform the person asking the question that we have
forums, blogs and other information to help them through their
tough
times. I also include phone numbers that they can
call to receive counselling, like the Kids Helpline and Lifeline.
Our goal is to use this medium to educate and help young people
that have nowhere else to
turn, and to eventually have them seek professional
help.
In addition to just answering questions, we also
keep a record of our responses so that we can look back on the
questions that we have answered. Yahoo! Answers allows the person
asking the question to rate the best answer so we can check to see
if our responses were helpful. We can learn
what helps and also see what the person was looking
for in the answer.
With the accessibility of websites like Yahoo!
Answers, it opens up a whole new way for young people to seek
answers and treatment anonymously. The downside to this is that
anyone can provide answers and information without regulation. This
is why professionals need to get on the site and offer
reliable information to those seeking it. A new
door is opened for treating young people and helping them get
through their difficulties so they can lead a better and happier
life. Yahoo! Answers can become a key component in connecting to
and treating youths immediately, so why wait?
ReachOut.com intern Mitch, gives insight into using Yahoo!
Answers to reach young people with mental health difficulties.
(Please note that as an intern and non health care professional,
Mitch did not answer questions relating to suicide)
Where do young people turn when they have questions about their
health? In pre-Internet days, young people would ask their doctor,
a teacher or parents for help if they needed advice. Getting help
involved personal, face-to-face contact. Today, there is another
source to go to when seeking information. Now that young
people all over the world have access to the Internet, they can
turn to search engines to find information on just about anything,
including health issues.
But why the sudden change?
Young people are now able to remain anonymous while they search
for information and they have a direct line to literally billions
of sources, all in one place. The downside of this new source of
unlimited information is that anyone can answer the call from young
people, and in many cases, they may be getting the wrong
information from the wrong source and not realise it. It is a
catch-22 that can lead to increased pain and suffering for young
people that are relying on strangers to give them
credible information.
So what can professionals do to make sure that young people are
getting helpful information from credible sources?
Yahoo! Answers is a popular question and answer website that
allows young people to ask for advice and answers to any question
that goes through their head, be it about a relationship, answers
to math problems, or how to cope with mental health issues. All a
person needs to use the site is a personalised user name that
can be anything they want it to be. With the ability to remain
anonymous, young people feel free to ask questions that they might
not ask in person. They no longer have to worry what their parents
will say or what their friends will think. This opens a whole new
can of worms when it comes to finding answers and receiving
reliable information.
The good thing about remaining anonymous is that young people
are free to ask any question that needs an answer. The bad thing is
that anyone can be answering their questions; it could be an expert
on the topic or someone just trying to mess with people on the
internet while hiding behind a screen name. Being anonymous is
both an advantage and a disadvantage to helping young people learn
about mental health issues online, so what can professionals do to
make sure the information that young people receive is what they
need?
As previously mentioned, anyone with an internet connection can
create a user name on Yahoo, so why not mental health
professionals? A quick glance at the mental health section of
Yahoo! Answers will provide an insightful view to the world of
cyber treatment. If you scroll through the questions, they range
from asking for a diagnosis of their symptoms to asking for help in
bad family environments.
Looking at some of the answers will show that anyone can add in
their two cents on the topic, be it support or ridicule. But if
professionals scanned the website for fifteen minutes, they would
see the need for their expertise. When answering questions, there
is a place to add your resources for obtaining the information. If
young people could see that a professional has answered their
question, they would be able to rely on the information and begin
to resolve their problems. Professionals could give advice or
diagnosis or even set up counselling appointments in their
office.
Here at Reach Out, we use Yahoo! Answers to search for young
peoples' questions about mental health. My role is to scan the
mental health questions and provide an answer that young people can
understand and that gives them information to help them cope with
their problems and eventually leads them to seek professional help.
In the answers, I provide links to our fact sheets and inform the
person asking the question that we have forums, blogs and other
information to help them through their tough times. I also
include phone numbers that they can call to receive counselling,
like the Kids Helpline and Lifeline. Our goal is to use this medium
to educate and help young people that have nowhere else
to turn, and to eventually have them seek professional
help.
In addition to just answering questions, we also keep a record
of our responses so that we can look back on the questions that we
have answered. Yahoo! Answers allows the person asking the question
to rate the best answer so we can check to see if our responses
were helpful. We can learn what helps and also see what the
person was looking for in the answer.
With the accessibility of websites like Yahoo! Answers, it opens
up a whole new way for young people to seek answers and treatment
anonymously. The downside to this is that anyone can provide
answers and information without regulation. This is why
professionals need to get on the site and offer reliable
information to those seeking it. A new door is opened for treating
young people and helping them get through their difficulties so
they can lead a better and happier life. Yahoo! Answers can become
a key component in connecting to and treating youths immediately,
so why wait?