Marc LeVine

Mental Health Care Outreach and Social Media

Marketing, Mental Health, Social Media | Posted by Marc

Jul 11 2011

If you work in the mental health field, you are a natural born communicator. Can we all agree that there is no counseling without a true command of language? After all, psychiatrists, counselors and social workers must all be well versed in BOTH, the spoken and written word to succeed within their chosen career fields.

Counseling sessions are based on active listening skills and the ability to successfully organize and summarize what the client shares. In addition, everything learned from each client session must be converted to accurate, comprehensive and concise progress notes. The data is often admissible in legal proceedings, so the mental health professional must be able to use an economy of words which express a multitude of thoughts and details. Let’s also just remind everyone that professionalism and field credibility also requires neatness, flawless spelling and grammar and attention to proper syntax.

So, where does Social Media enter in to a discussion about listening, thinking, talking, writing and detail orientation?

Social Media Represents the “New World” of Opportunity for Everyone

Social Media is an important form of communication these days. It is becoming a communication tool of choice for many mentally ill clients, especially when they wish to communicate – anonymously – with others to avoid positive identification and attached stigma. Mental Health professionals are increasingly spending their counseling time instructing their clients in the safe and productive use of Social Media, for this purpose. The chief goal is ALWAYS to protect the vulnerable from exploitation.

The mental health professional is also using Social Media as a way to gain additional professional knowledge as well as to network with others in his own field; including the many that live and work a great distance away.
There are also new opportunities for degree work and certification through online universities and professional organizations, respectively. There are moderated and open forums for career-related discussions on a variety of professional topics developed to advance the field of mental health care.

Plenty of collegial relations and friendships have been forged in the online world, often leading to one-to-one telephone conversations and live meetups. Face-to-face meeting have always been the goal of Social Media, which is designed as an enabler and not a replacement for physical human interaction.

Job information has been exchanged and employment interview offers are often tendered online. And, then there is the research that keeps the mental health care professional up to date on the changes taking places in his field from day to day. Some of the research and anecdotal contributions are the product of practioners, just like you and me, who choose the Internet as a place to publish our work and share it with the world. We no longer need to wait for third parties to publish what we write.

Forget the Yellow Pages. You Must be Active in Social Media to Succeed

There is another area in which the worlds of mental health care and Social Media often come together – marketing and outreach. Can any nonprofit or private business afford not to avail themselves of the benefits offered through Social Media? I think not. Why? Because, the collective Social Media audience is huge and diverse. We need the kind of visibility and name recognition that the Internet can lead us to.

Most everyone that we need to connect with is already online, with more and more people showing up daily. Facebook, alone, is already at or nearing 600 million users. Confidently, there is no one on earth that does not know – at least – a single person with a Facebook profile.

Marketing and outreaching others in Social Media need not take a huge amount of resources, either. In fact, the entire effort can be limited to just a few platforms and a limited amount of posts on a consistent basis. This is resource allocation, well positioned.

Are you LinkedIn?

All professionals in any field belong on LinkedIn. Create a profile with your credentials, contact information and over time, as many business references as you can gather. Take some time to join some professional groups and pose and answer career-related questions among the group members. There is a lot to learn from others and much one can share to prove his field expertise. It is such expertise that builds professional credibility and helping relations over time. Such relationships are invaluable when it comes to creating all sorts of professional opportunities including business partnerships, client referrals and employment offers. Do not discount the value of LinkedIn as a premier Social Networking platform for mental health care professionals.

Are you Facebooking?

Facebook is another place where the people we need and wish to “talk” to are a great deal of the time. Sure, it is a place where one must be especially careful not to embarrass himself among his friends or professional colleagues, but it is a place where using good posting discretion can balance the fun with the serious. The common denominator is “value.” Bring value to others and garner their respect and loyalty.

Facebook does have a business side, too. The Facebook business page offers a place to create and foster community, client and professional relations through providing value to some and offering an outlet for others to do the same. A few well placed posts about happenings in the mental health care field on your Facebook business page and a few more quality posts and comments on the pages of others you seek to have an audience with and you are on your way to growing a successful Facebook presence. Just remember that on Social Media, it’s not all about you. Value for others, FIRST. You have the right to pitch your own endeavors about 15% of the time. Do not try and sell in Social Media; work harder to impress. Being respected and liked will get you the opportunities you are looking for.

Have you Blogged, Today?

Blogging is also a great tool to become better known. Show you are an expert in something and share it wherever you can. One or two 400 – 500 word blog posts per week, can quickly establish a professional as an expert that others want to hear from regularly. Invite others to write for your blog, too. Guest bloggers are refreshing and help give the impression that your blog is important enough for others to take the time and contribute to. Their followers will come to read their posts and have a chance to read yours. Often newspaper and magazine writers read the blogs, so don’t be surprised when you receive offers to publish your contributions in their print and online publications. This is good for you and your business, because their readers are probably your own target audience.

When did you last Tweet?

Do you need to tweet? Twitter can be effective if you can develop a targeted and convertible following. Building such a dedicated following takes much work. You want to create a following of credible mental health care gurus; respected field publications; a pool of mainstream field nonprofits and for-profit; federal, state and local government leaders; supportive local businesses and potential client groups. Retweeting others and replying to their tweets is just as important as tweeting your own materials. Again, you must limit tooting your own horn to about 15% of your tweets. Tweet value and seek to connect with others. If you can build relations and take them off-line, you are succeeding.

Are you in Constant Contact with your Primary Audience?

Lastly, look into using an E-mail service such as Constant Contact to keep your audience up to date. Send out a monthly newsletter; issue announcements such as new hires and business expansions; announce your Social Media presence: and even create event invitations and holiday E-cards for your contacts. The more you can get your name in front of others, the better it is remembered. Just don’t overdo it. Strike a balance by using all of your Social Media tools, timely and appropriately.

This is a very exciting time for mental health care professionals. Their appropriate use of Social Media can do many wonderful things for them; their professions; their businesses and organizations; and the clients they serve.

Rating: 1.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Rating: -1 (from 1 vote)

Tags: behavioral health care, behavioralhealth, illness, marketing. mentalhealth, mental health, outreach
View Comments

Social Media and the Psychiatrist-Patient Relationship

Mental Health, Social Media | Posted by Marc

Jun 24 2011

It’s 2:30 am on a Saturday morning and a psychiatric patient is having moderate coping difficulties over the recent loss of a loved one. He feels isolated and alone and with no one to turn to but his trusted therapist. What he does have on-hand is an emergency phone number for his therapist’s answering service. He also has the numbers of several call-for-help hotlines. Neither of these choices seem well suited to his present need to reach out to someone who he believes can help talk him through this troubling night.

His, is clearly not a life or death matter, but he knows he would feel better communicating with the one person in whom he has confided the most during therapy – his psychiatrist.

A case study such as this one brings to light the controversial issue of using Social Media to enhance the therapist/client relationship. Could this patient have used E-mail and/or Social Media platforms to reach his therapist and converse with him, online? Actually, this is probably more of a “should” question than a “could” one.

Though it is unlikely – in the case above – the therapist would be awake and online in the early morning hours of the next day, a direct E-mail or a private In-mail to his Facebook account could be responded to very conveniently from the doctor’s breakfast table, later that same morning. The Web exchange would certainly allow his client to express his worries and concerns in writing, while allowing the physician to review them, take a step back for careful thought before responding in a patient-centered way. This may seem logical and convenient, but it is not without several inherent liabilities. Among them are concerns about confidentiality, security, privacy, academic honesty, managing technologies in psychotherapy, timeliness of response and the clarity of the response. Regarding the latter points, this individual was not contemplating suicide at 2:30 am on a Saturday morning, but what if he were?

There are other impediments to developing more e-relationships in psychotherapy that must also be brought to light. Psychiatrists tend to be “late adopters” of new technology and, like most other physicians, do not prefer to communicate with patients outside office hours when their services are non-reimbursable.

Psychiatrists are also concerned about setting strict boundaries with their patients for a variety of professional and personal reasons. Also, E-mail and Social Media interaction is very informal and has the capability to blur the distinction between professional interest and friendship. Where does one draw the line between what is and what may not be appropriate in an electronic dialogue?

Then, there are the issues of the non-clinical business details, which are often handled by a third-party in the doctor’s office. Routinely, the office manager and staff make and reschedule appointments; handle emergencies; facilitate prescriptions; answer spot questions, and clear up back-office misunderstandings often involving financial matters that doctors prefer not to be directly involved with.

The following short video describes many of the psychiatrist concerns discussed above in a way that expresses the concern of the professionals as they try to come to grips with a new technology they are not completely understanding of’

For concerned psychiatrists, the ethical and legal aspects of e-mail use—including American precedents—are well covered in a recent article on e-mail and the psychiatrist-patient relationship by Recupero.

Practice tip No. 1. Ninety percent of patients who send e-mail or social media correspondence to their doctors are communicating sensitive medical information. Patients should know who has access to your e-mail. There are many security risks end-to-end on all unencrypted e-mail sent over the Internet, and patients must be so advised. They should sign prior informed consent.

E-mail correspondence outside of a secure system is indelible, it can be misaddressed, it can be forwarded, intercepted, circulated, and changed without the knowledge or permission of the sender, and the true identity of the sender of a normal e-mail is impossible to verify. Patients must also be advised that e-mail can be used as evidence in court and that it is subject to applicable rules on patient-doctor confidentiality. On open-source microblogging networks, such as Twitter, correspondence can be “cached” or copied forever on the World Wide Web. As such, it is accessible to anyone, despite the fact that the submitter retracts the original copies of “tweets.” Also, programmers with access to the Remote Application Programming Interface may retain access.

Practice tip No. 2. Take great care when addressing correspondence to anyone, patient or other care provider. Often e-mail software has an “auto-complete e-mail-address” feature so if you have 2 patients with the same first name, it is easy to send to the wrong patient. Be careful!

When writing a draft e-mail, it is easy to send it prematurely. (You mean to save the draft, but you hit Send instead.) To avoid this, first write the e-mail and then address it. Send e-mail the way that you send postal mail: only add an address “on the envelope” when you have fully completed and signed the letter (ie, leave the “To” address blank until you have fully completed the e-mail). To reply to an e-mail, hit the Forward button instead of the Reply button. Write the e-mail and only then insert the e-mail address.

When you send a group mailing to patients, use the “bcc” (blind carbon copy) feature so that names and addresses of recipients are kept private. Avoid Reply All. The patient may have copied others, but your reply should go back only to your patient.

Practice tip No. 3. Consider the source of your e-mail chain. Institutional e-mail is a problem because the institution has access to it. Free e-mail and Internet services are best avoided because they may be accessible to unauthorized persons. The same is true for mobile devices where “eavesdropping” is possible. Open-source or searchable social networks such as Twitter or Facebook open themselves up to exponentially larger unauthorized access.

Practice tip No. 4. To use encryption software, the patient is required to also install the same software. The hassle factor of installing such software on computers on both ends of an e-mail is why such encryption software has not become standard. There are excellent Web-based services, such as e-Courier.ca, that offer the highest security possible without the installation of any encryption software. e-Courier.ca also permits massive e-mail attachments, such as CT scan results for instance, that normally would get bounced. Moreover, you receive notification when the patient has opened your e-Courier.ca e-mail.

Practice tip No. 5. Electronic exchanges should all be kept within the patient’s file and the patient should be so informed.

Practice tip No. 6. Because it is impossible to guarantee that e-mail will be read and responded to within a set period, emergency messages and time-sensitive material should not be sent by e-mail. While generally received by the recipient’s e-mail server within seconds, e-mail can sometimes take a circuitous route and ar-rive hours later. Moreover, a patient may not review his e-mail for hours or even days, so ask patients to acknowledge receipt of e-mails by reply e-mail or telephone. Subject lines can contain words denoting urgency or deadlines, such as “Time-sensitive, please acknowledge receipt.”

Practice tip No. 7. Because speed of typing results in typos and the perception of curtness, take great care with clear wording and be as brief as possible.

Practice tip No. 8. Prepare standard, courteous messages for unsolicited mail that you do not wish to respond to (e.g., “Thank you for your e-mail. Due to the high volume of e-mails, I will not be able to respond. To reach my assistant, please phone during office hours. For after-hour emergencies, please contact so-and-so. For immediate needs, please contact the physician on call or visit your nearest emergency room”).

Be sure to provide accurate Web links and current telephone numbers for all referral information. Such standard responses may be set up in a variety of ways, depending on the sophistication of your e-mail software. One simple method is to prepare a variety of e-mail “signatures,” each with a different response.

Practice tip No. 9. Steer unknown e-mailers seeking medical advice to a local physician or medical center. Increasingly sophisticated e-mail filter technology can advise you of who is and who is not a current patient. In all instances, it is your ethical obligation to provide referral information to all those who contact you.

Practice tip No. 10. Before sending an e-mail, always scroll down to the very bottom of your almost-ready-to-send e-mail. This step is good general practice because not only can you learn important information in a potential e-mail thread but there may be confidential information that you do not want to pass on.

The tips offered above seem sound and well advised at the time of this writing, but keep in mind that Social Media technology is evolving much quicker than the case law and professional advice needed to guide users of it. This is problematic to the many of us, who essentially are guinea pigs in a society fraught with distrust and litigation-minded people and their attorneys. This should cause everyone to tread very lightly in Social Media by staying abreast of its appropriate uses by fellow professionals and thinking everything carefully through before sharing with others through this medium.

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Tags: mental health, mental illness, psychatrist, psychiatry, social media
View Comments

Social Media and Municipal Alliance Committees (MAC)

Municipal Alliances, Social Media | Posted by Marc

Jun 09 2011

A Primer on Municipal Alliance Committees

For those New Jersey residents still unfamiliar with Municipal Alliance Committees, (according to a State of New Jersey brochure) they are local planning and coordinating bodies established in all of New Jersey’s 21 counties to “assess needs, set priorities, develop plans and implement programs that form the foundation of New Jersey’s substance abuse prevention activities.” New Jersey’s Municipal Alliances provide over 3,800 prevention programs statewide.

The state brochure on MACs further goes on to describe the makeup of Municipal Alliance Committees established by the local governing body and made up of volunteer “appointees representing a broad cross section of stakeholders in the community.” Alliance committee members include representatives from the governing body, education, health, law enforcement, civic, religious, and business organizations. From the inception of the Municipal Alliances, community volunteers have been the backbone of the program and they are parents, coaches, peer leaders, youth, seniors and others.

The Beauty of Social Media: Great Reach at No/Low Cost

Recently, some 150 concerned Mahwah parents learned how to talk to their kids about cyber-bullying, sexting, video bullying, and other adolescent online interactions at a Thursday night seminar sponsored by the Mahwah (NJ) Municipal Alliance. The Alliance got the word about the seminar on their Website (http://www.mahwahalliance.org/) and through the local media as well as several mainstream and regional Social Media platforms/outlets such as AOL’s Patch.com for the Mahwah area.

Social Media works to help municipal alliance committees understand what they can do to get their message out and how their messages can be found. Online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and dedicated Blogs are increasingly being used by community groups to enhance communication with community members and other key stakeholders including federal, state and local governing representatives.

Social media really gives financially strapped municipal alliances the opportunity to reach their target audiences for little or no cost. It is a great tool to broadcast their events and activities. It is also an incredible resource for learning from and collaborating with other municipal alliances and nonprofit groups working towards similar community goals. After all, why keep re-inventing the wheel, if we can all work together to make it roll better on a much smoother road surface? Municipal Alliances must strive to get everyone involved, especially the parents and teachers of the at-risk kids they need to reach and help.

Using feedback from members of the community is a great way to make them feel like they are a part of the municipal alliance and its programs. Never before has this been remotely possible. Now it is possible to involve people, remotely – through the Web-based tools of Social Media.

Social Media’s I/O – Input/Output

Another reason that Municipal Alliances go online is to be where the kids they are trying to protect from harm are most often found. Participating on the Web offers Alliance coordinators and members a portal into and necessary insights regarding the problematic exchanges often taking place between some children and their peers (as well as with potential child stalkers and exploiters) through Social Media. It is not coincidental that on the Mahwah Municipal Alliance website is a Today Show interview with Mahwah police Chief James Batelli regarding this same issue:

Chief James Batelli and the MMA on the Today Show.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For those who were unable to view the original broadcast, it now permanently resides on the Alliance’s Website and can be viewed at any time. Word of the video’s existence on the Website and/or the video, itself, can easily be “pushed out” to the residents embedded within a digital newsletter or via E-mail blast. This is yet another example how Social Media is being used by Municipal Alliances to reach out to greater numbers of community residents and educate them about topics of interest – when they are conveniently available.

Never before the age of Social Media has constructive two-way communication with the community been possible. And, Municipal Alliances throughout New Jersey are availing themselves of these technologies and the greater benefits they yield.

Rating: 1.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Rating: 0 (from 2 votes)

Tags: community, drugs, government, municipal alliance, social media, substance abuse
View Comments

Social Media Provides Needed “Sunshine” for Seniors and Shut-ins

Social Media, senior citizens | Posted by Marc

May 19 2011

My grandmother was born in 1898 and passed away in 1979 – at the age of 82 – long before the Internet became the cultural phenomena it is, today.

One of my fondest memories of Grandma Pearl was watching her amazement as Neil Armstrong took “one small step” on the surface of the moon back in the summer of ’69. More than forty years later, I realize that the “giant leap” he took, when he first set foot onto the lunar surface – late that summer evening – was actually a bridge between my grandmother’s generation and my own.

Grandma and her contemporaries were born to the sound of rushing horses and buggies at the turn of the last century. Due to some great strides in medicine during the twentieth century, she and many others were fortunate to live long enough to witness the live television broadcast of the Space Shuttle Enterprise’s inaugural test flight on August 12, 1977. Simply amazing for them and – perhaps – much more culturally stimulating than anything my generation will have ever experienced in our complete lifetimes.

“Grandma” in the Twenty-first Century

What would Grandma think about the Internet? Well, her daughter – my mother – is now 87. The world was a little bit more “modern” when she came into it in 1923. Her pre-teen years were filled with radio broadcasts, cars and early airplane travel. So, there has been much less cultural and technology shock in her life as compared to her parents. In fact, mom adapted early and quickly to using ATMs, cell phone and, yes, digital casino slot machines. She is quite aware of the Internet and many of its capabilities. While she doesn’t own her own computer and probably never will, she is – at least – aware of what can be done on the Web and can do some basic things on community equipment or that of family and friends.

According to comScore, a digital measurement company, 27.4 million people age 55 and over engaged in social networking in July of 2010, up from 16 million one year prior. These numbers continue to grow as more and more senior citizens learn to embrace the Net. There are so many new seniors signing on to Social Media that there will be a definite need for devices with bigger buttons, bigger screens and bigger keys, just like cell phones and digital clock radios already offer.

“Oldies” are Becoming “Goodies” on the Web.

What is mostly driving senior citizens online is their ability to communicate with others at greater distances more frequently and often in real-time. They are easily able to share photos, videos, links, contacts and status updates with grandchildren and other family members living apart. Social Media has the impressive ability to strengthen family ties across generation and eliminates some of the loneliness that many senior citizens and shut-ins very often experience.

According to AARP the top four Social Media sites for people over 60 are Google, Facebook, Yahoo and YouTube. A quarter of the organization’s members are using Facebook, and the number is rapidly growing. Twitter use has also grown. Ten per cent of Internet users over 50 are using Twitter or other status update services like TweetDeck and Hootsuite, according to Pew.

Among the more popular niche social media sites for seniors is Eons.com. This site offers senior-relevant information and allows for sharing with others. . Other popular senior-oriented sites include ELDR.com, which features articles, interviews, photos, blogs and suggested links to other helpful websites. Growingbolder.com focuses on the 50+ Boomer market and features videos, videocasts, podcasts, sharing forums and expert blogs. All of these senior-oriented niche sites seem to understand what this 50+ market is looking for and continually strives to maintain their interest. Retailers and their advertisers are well aware of all this and that senior citizens represent: a large market share of retail dollars and are a constant resource. All the more reason that all seniors, going online, must be properly educated in the safe use of Social Media.

Seeking Greater Knowledge, Understanding and Online Entertainment

Outside of family and friends, seniors use Social Media tools to learn more about topics that interest them. Senior can watch old television shows and movies on YouTube and Hulu and see videos from “their time.” There is much to offer them through the availability of free or low cost E-books, expert articles and interesting blog posts. They can also play games, either by themselves or with family and friends. According to a recent study of social gaming sponsored by PopCap, 22 per cent of social game players are ages 50 through 59 — the largest age bracket — and 16 percent are ages 60 and older. Educationally, many seniors are now taking online courses to keep their minds active and even to establish online businesses to help defray the higher cost of living in retirement.

A Pew Institute study determined that people suffering with a chronic disease are more likely to reach out for support online. So, the Web is also playing an increasingly important role in helping seniors manage their health issues. Many actually Blog and regularly contribute to online health forums or online support groups that are popular with people coping with major illnesses such as Cancer, Diabetes and Alzheimer’s/Dementia. There are also special groups for bereavement and elder companionship.

Despite the rise in social networking activities, Pew Institute research found that seniors over 65 are among those least likely to have high-speed Internet access at home. In fact, less than one-third of them have broadband. This is probably due to the recurring cost of yet another service and their lack of technical understanding. This is rather unfortunate as many in the senior population are less likely to see the lack of broadband as a real disadvantage – and it is. Fortunately, there are a growing number of social community websites focusing on the specific needs and online concerns of senior citizens.

Project GOAL (the Project to Get Older Adults Online) works with aging organizations like AARP to communicate the importance of getting our older community online – safely and productively. Celery is a New York based company that is dedicated to helping those who don’t use computers, including seniors, remain up-to-date on sites like Twitter and also by E-mail.

Grandma Would Have Had a Brand New Bag

My grandmother would have been amazed by all of this and her world would have been brought much closer to her in terms of staying in touch with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren! Reconnecting with old friends still living in New York and those that move to warmer climates would have been great therapy for an older woman with mobility issues and greatly reduced income. It sure would have been better than the alternatives available in 1979 – watching soaps, game shows and cheesy commercials for things she couldn’t get to the store to buy, anyway. Imagine what E-commerce would have meant to her; though she would have welcomed it with extreme caution.

Thankfully, some things never change. Wisdom is a universally desirable trait that senior citizens have been respected for possessing for centuries. In the twenty-first century it is a pre-requisite for going on-line, first and foremost. Yes, Grandma Pearl would have done fine in the Internet Age. She probably could have taught some youngsters a thing or two about cautionary practices.

###

Marc LeVine is Vice President of Community Outreach for The Center, a therapeutic program affiliated with Advanced Behavioral Care Services, serving the needs of Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex County residents suffering from mental illness or substance abuse Licensed by New Jersey Division of Mental Health Services & Division of Addiction Services and with two regional locations in Neptune and Lakewood, The Center is recognized for advocating a focus on goal setting and attainment, commitment and structure. The program urges and challenges its members to take their places in the community as healthy, productive, contributing and vital individuals. To learn more, call 732-774-1500 or visit http://advancedbehavioral.com/ Follow Marc on Twitter @icanewfriend His complete bio is at www.linkedin/in/marclevineica

Rating: 1.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Rating: 0 (from 2 votes)

Tags: aging, Internet, networking, senior citizens, seniorcitizens, shut-ins, shutins, socialmedia, web
View Comments

Parent’s Beware: Social Media isn’t Always Child’s Play

Mental Health, Social Media | Posted by Marc

May 04 2011

Consider this…You are contacted by a childhood friend on Facebook, who has 1200 friends. You, on the other hand, have just over 100 friends listed on your own Facebook page. What kind of thoughts immediately run through your mind?

Might you wonder why this friend of yours is so popular and you are not? Or, might you feel slightly embarrassed that this other person may perceive you as something less than a people person, even if you really are – perhaps, just not on Facebook?

The World to a Child is Imposing Enough without New Threats

As an adult, you may be much better-equipped and emotionally mature enough to deal with these types of (sometimes) unsettling thoughts and emotions. To an already at-risk child, the misinterpretation of the written word and/or a misunderstanding within the context of some casual situation may be harmful to his or her mental health. The child is much more apt to internalize and dwell on feelings of rejection than most adults, who are able to reconcile these emotions with the understanding that we are all capable of making misinterpretations and having misunderstandings; that it is perfectly acceptable to have fewer friends than someone else (often it’s a quality over quantity matter anyway); and that rejection – when it inevitably does come– is a part of normal, daily living.

The first week of May is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. It is the proper time to reflect on how the changing ways of the world may be impacting our children’s mental health. Actually, we should be interested in this area of concern, every single day of the year. It is a critical consideration. If we can shield a child from any form of mental illness, we can help assure them of a happy and productive future. The cumulative effect of this kind of pro-activity is a much better world filled with well-adjusted children and adults. That being said, we have our work cut out for us with many great mental health challenges ahead.

Who Ever Heard of “FaceBook Depression?”

There is a new and troubling mental health diagnosis stemming from children’s overuse of Social Media. It’s called “FaceBook Depression.” The American Academy of Pediatrics has validated this diagnosis and linked it to depression and eating disorders.

Dr. Michael Brody is the Chair of the Media Committee for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He recently shared the following comments regarding the American Academy of Pediatrics report tied to the study, which he personally impacted.

“Kids are very competitive, and kids want to be chosen,” explains Dr. Brody. When children see that some of their friends have more Facebook friends than they do, there are those who may feel inadequate. After reviewing a series of upbeat comments on their friend’s Facebook pages, some may gain the impression that people they know and want to be popular with interact more freely with others than with them. “I think the idea of envy and jealousy becomes much magnified through this medium (Social Media),” says Brody.

There is no Substitute for an Engaged Parent

All of this perceived inadequacy on the part of teenagers and younger children can best be addressed by caring and engaged parents, who closely monitor their children’s use of Social Media and encourage them to balance their lives with other off-line interests and activities. One-dimensional living isn’t healthy for anyone and Social Media has made it far too easy to shun the real world to engage strictly in on-line socialization. We are social-beings and need to interact with others, in the flesh. There is no reasonable substitute for making eye-contact with our peers and exchanging the emotive messages and signals that can only be expressed in body language. Social Media is lacking in full body human expression.

Normal children’s development requires a well-rounded set of human experiences. Social Media is self-limiting in this regard. The child that plays sports, joins clubs, visits with friends and spends time with family is much less a -risk for depression and other troubling symptoms associated with the overuse of Social Media and “Facebook Depression.” Facebook Depression is new and unfortunate clinical malady that no child should never have to be diagnosed with. Parents, teachers and clinicians should be on the lookout for early indicators of this disease and intervene, immediately.

###

About The Center

The Center, a therapeutic program affiliated with Advanced Behavioral Care Services, serves the needs of Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex County residents suffering from mental illness and/or substance abuse. Licensed by the New Jersey Divisions of Mental Health & Addiction Services, and with two locations in Monmouth and Ocean counties, The Center is dedicating resources to helping their clients move from illness and disability to hopefulness and health. Through an emphasis on wellness and recovery, The Center challenges its clients to embrace a future of possibility – that of being contributing and productive members of society. To learn more, call 732-774-1500 or visit http://advancedbehavioral.com

Rating: 4.5/10 (2 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 2 votes)

Tags: depression, eating disorders, Facebook, mental health, mental illness, social media, socialmedia
View Comments

How Social Media is Helping Dismantle the Stigma of Mental Illness

Behavioral Health, Mental Health, Social Media | Posted by Marc

Apr 21 2011

“Social media can help deal with the stigma surrounding mental illness by allowing people anonymity and also offering a forum and a place to connect both for those who want to remain anonymous and those who would speak openly about their experiences.” — Jackson Wightman, PR Daily

What Would Jefferson Say?

Jacob Payne, a high-profile political blogger from Kentucky recently filed a lawsuit against an anonymous blogger asking a local judge to order this individual to come forward to identify himself/herself and to cease and desist the publishing of critical comments that Payne considers “defamatory”.

This is just one of many similar legal challenges making their way through the judiciary system in recent years. Every one of these cases questions the basic rights granted by the First Amendment as they may apply to Social Media and the Internet.

Each side attempts to argue whether or not anonymous blogging is protected under our Freedom of Speech. Supreme Court justices struggle trying to reconcile twenty-first century Social Media technology with our eighteenth century Constitution. What are the relevant contexts and the original intent within components of debate separated by more than two centuries of cultural change? This is an especially difficult task since the Web is something that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could never have even imagined. Having never conceived of such a technology, could they ever have been expected to grant rights and protections about Social Media? And, then there is the issue of anonymity? This they may have given some thought to back in 1776. In fact, a pretty crafty patriot by the name of Francis Marion often went by the name “Swamp Fox,” and no one but the redcoats seem to complain. By the way, Marion was the character loosely portrayed by Mel Gibson in the “The Patriot.”

One Person’s Challenge is another Person’s Opportunity

Perhaps, the most important Supreme Court case to date is McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm. In that case, The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the First Amendment right to speak anonymously: “author is generally free to decide whether or not to disclose his or her true identity.”

McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission is actually a very critical ruling as it indirectly relates to the use of Social Media as a therapeutic tool to aid in the socialization of those with mental illness. The protection of anonymity is key in facilitating critical interactions in Social Media. These positive interactions help to break down many of the stigmas associated with mental illness. It is their anonymity that allows the mentally ill to explore the Web, interact with others and openly express themselves in a manner that offers them protection from a variety of internal (psychological) and external threats (stigma).

According to Web Rights Guru, Ethan Zuckerman: ” Social Media gives people an anonymous forum to talk about the fact they are having difficulties, maybe think out loud, and reflect. Because the Internet has become such an interactive forum they can hear from others and they realize, ‘Wow, I am not the only one.’

While the ability to cloak ones identity from the masses when sharing personal experiences on the Web is most desirable for some, regardless of their mental health. But, not everyone with mental illness prefers to remain anonymous in Social Media.

Steven Schwartz, struggles with BiPolar disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. A former Canadian journalist, Steven authors a popular blog called “the bipolar badger.” In his posts he openly shares his personal experiences dealing with mental illness…and he is brutally honest about it all. That is not to say that he is unable to laugh at himself and share entertaining anecdotes in his writings from time to time. Steven seems to believe that revealing himself and being who he really is equates to his own well being; the enlightenment of himself and countless others; and the general good.

There is little doubt that Schwartz undergoes healthy catharsis as he openly and honestly expresses his personal thoughts and emotions. Admirable is Steven’s stated goal (within his blog) to personally help make a difference in the ongoing campaign to reduce the stigma, shame and misconceptions associated with having mental illness.

For putting his neck on the line, the mental health community owes Steven Schwartz many accolades and many thanks. But this is just Steven’s story. For others, it is the anonymity that they crave allowing them to shield themselves from the insensitivities they may face from day to day. There is much hurt resulting from unfair stereotyping and the acceptance by others of inaccurate and improper assumptions made about those who struggle with mentally illness.

Technically Protecting Your Anonymity

All people need to talk with and learn from others about themselves and about the world around them. This is regardless of whether they wish to reveal themselves or remain anonymous. This is not just a need of the mentally ill; it is a basic human need. And, as we have learned from the courts; all of those who appreciate democracy place a very high value of their Freedom of Speech along with their right to remain anonymous when sharing their views, publicly. Those who are mentally ill and who are able to grasp these concepts are among them.

So what basic tips can be offered to protect one’s anonymity over the Web these days:

Use pseudonyms tied to free, international webmail and blog hosting sites. These are less easily traceable than the better known fee-based, domestic services

Use public computers, wherever possible. Schools, libraries and Internet Cafes are among the places that offer Social Media access for free or at reasonable cost

Use anonymous proxy servers like those found on a list of public proxy servers. Chances are you may need help choosing and setting up a proxy server interface, but once this is done it is nearly impossible for your IP (computer /location/identity to be traced)

Use a stealth blogging site like “Invisiblog,” which allows blog posting by specially created E-mails (Mixmaster) rather than by direct uploading of written material. It really helps to cover one’s personal trail. There are also ways to further encrypt one’s Web contributions with online services such as GPG. It will take some effort or the need to ask for help setting some of these tools in motion, but it is worth the added attention.

If Social Media continues proving to be an aid in the overall treatment of Mental Illness, it becomes increasingly important for everyone in the mental health community to advocate for the protection of anonymity on the Web. This will be a tough battle as the courts must be consistent in their rulings and it will be nearly impossible to create a double standard here. Can anyone really separate the malicious creep who posts attacks – anonymously – on the Web to avoid detection and prosecution from the mentally ill, who may also let loose from time to time –anonymously- to avoid identification and stigma? This will be a real challenge. At stake may be more than the gold standard of Freedom of Speech; it may be the platinum value of good mental health.

About The Center

The Center, a therapeutic program affiliated with Advanced Behavioral Care Services, serves the needs of Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex County residents suffering from mental illness and/or substance abuse. Licensed by the New Jersey Divisions of Mental Health & Addiction Services, and with two locations in Monmouth and Ocean counties, The Center is dedicating resources to helping their clients move from illness and disability to hopefulness and health. Through an emphasis on wellness and recovery, The Center challenges its clients to embrace a future of possibility – that of being contributing and productive members of society. To learn more, call 732-774-1500 or visit http://advancedbehavioral.com/

Rating: 1.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Rating: 0 (from 2 votes)

Tags: anonymity, mental illness, mentalillness, psychiatric, social media, socialmedia, treatment
View Comments

Social Media and Suicide Prevention

Behavioral Health, Mental Health | Posted by Marc

Apr 18 2011

“Walk into any American high school classroom and the odds are that two of the young people before you will have attempted suicide over the past 12 months.” This is according to Jack Heath, president of the Inspire USA Foundation.

It is very unsettling to consider that more than 24,000 suicide attempts are made on college and university campuses around the United States, annually. These alarming figures are provided by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In fact, according to US government statistics, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25- to 34-year-olds. It is also the third leading cause of death among American 15- to 24-year-olds.

The experts attribute the causation factors for college age suicides as stress of school, finances, and relationships. These, among others, are certainly enough to get most college students feeling depressed about life at a time that already brings with it the many pressures of adult expectations as well as academic and social challenge.

Here’s the thing… most college students contemplating committing suicide are not likely to include their line of thinking in their Facebook status updates. Among those that have, lives have been saved by online “friends,” who recognized what was happening and immediately intervened to avert horrible tragedies from taking place.

Case in point. Resulting from her quick response, actress Demi Moore helped save the life of one of one of her Twitter followers who was contemplating suicide. By keeping her engaged with Tweets, Moore enticed enough clues for other Tweeps to figure out where this woman lived. Police were dispatched to her home, just in the nick of time.

In another case that snagged international newswires, a 16 year old British youth sent a suicide message to a young girl in Maryland. This eventually led to White House and British Embassy involvement via calls from the Maryland state police. Both governments assigned special agents to help track down the suicidal young man before he took his own life. As a result, a life was saved, due to the Social Media.

Virtual communities, especially those geared to suicide prevention, can bring together groups of failed attempters of suicide; their family and friends, as well as field experts, locally or from around the world. Everyone’s contribution to the overall conversation and the valuable of their input allows for the sharing of important information and the creation of supportive relationships.

When people feel connected to and supported by others and encouraged to be who they really are – as they do in virtual communities – they build a safety net around them that may help protect them when they are feeling despair.

Fortunately, not all of the virtual communities forming to deal with suicide prevention are coming about by happenstance. Recognizing the value of the online world in helping to provide a conduit for expressing psychological and emotional issues, professional associations and academic institutions are introducing their own communities and resources into the greater mix.

According to the information provided on its home page, “ReachOut.com is the flagship program of Inspire USA Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. Through its virtual community, ReachOut integrates youth-generated, expert-reviewed information and real-life stories with opportunities to connect with others in a supportive, safe environment.

People across the Web are connecting with SAMHSA’s National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK), thanks to Lifeline’s presence on social media sites.

“By listening to teens directly, we discovered an opportunity to use online and digital media to help teens cope with personal and mental health issues,” said SAMHSA’s Mark Weber, Task Lead for the Agency’s Suicide Prevention Work Group and Associate Administrator for Communications. “Our key message to teens is ‘Relief is closer than you think.’ ”

On the academic side, my own alma mater - Syracuse University – is using a grant from the SAMSHA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to create “gatekeeper training” for its residence life staff and health services staff on how to prevent suicide and perform successful crisis intervention. Syracuse’s “Campus Connect” program has served as a model for other colleges and universities. In addition, the school’s free “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” series has been hailed by medical journals for providing emotional coping skills to deal more effectively with stress, according to the school. A social marketing campaign, at SU, has focused on changing the stigma of mental health issues and increasing the awareness of its counseling center.

Syracuse joins other colleges and universities such as Penn State and Michigan in forming these online suicide prevention initiatives.

“Student counseling centers’ hold perceptions that more highly troubled students are coming in; prompting the centers to introduce fresh suicide-prevention tactics,” according to the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology publication. The APA reports efforts that include Web and social media initiatives geared toward students; making it easier for them to be open to help by changing term counseling services to consulting at some U.S. post secondary institutions.

While recent studies by psychologists have warned that Social Media, itself, can contribute to social disorders and mental illness, it is refreshing to also hear about the many ways Social Media is impacting the field of psychology in a positive way and saving lives through its role in suicide prevention.

About The Center

Marc LeVine is Vice President of Community Outreach at The Center, a therapeutic program affiliated with Advanced Behavioral Care Services, serves the needs of Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex County residents suffering from mental illness and/or substance abuse. Licensed by the New Jersey Divisions of Mental Health & Addiction Services, and with two locations in Monmouth and Ocean counties, The Center is dedicating resources to helping their clients move from illness and disability to hopefulness and health. Through an emphasis on wellness and recovery, The Center challenges its clients to embrace a future of possibility – that of being contributing and productive members of society. To learn more, call 732-774-1500 or visit http://advancedbehavioral.com/

Rating: 1.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Rating: 0 (from 2 votes)

Tags: mental health, mental illness, mentalhealth, mentalillness, suicide, suicideprevention
View Comments

GUEST BLOG: Creating A Website For Your Business – It Is A Luxury Or A Requirement?

Web Design | Posted by Marc

Apr 05 2011

In a time where the value of a dollar has been decimated to almost nothing and everyone is looking for the best deal, having a website is no longer an option, but a requirement in order to be a successful business. Whether your business is small or large, provides HVAC services or is just a small local bar, a website adds value to your business. Websites provide potential clients with information about your company, products, and services, all from the convenience of their own home. Think about how many times you have decided to buy something on a whim without doing any online research first. I am sure you don’t, and if you do, it is a rare occasion.

Having a website used to be a luxury that only wealthy companies could afford. With hosting services being at an all time low in price and having a plethora of do-it-yourself contenting management systems available, obtaining a website has never been more affordable. Also, there are literally thousands of web designers that are starving for work that will create a custom site for next to nothing. Do you need a website? Yes. Should you go with the cheapest web designer you can find? Maybe. Though a website is required for your business this day in age, a poorly designed or developed website is about as good as not having a site at all. A lot of people think they are web designers because they have read “Web Design for Dummies.” The problem is that simply using HTML to create a site is not enough to compete with the other 100,000 websites in your niche.

Websites are a dime a dozen; however, there are a few things that set some sites apart from the rest. Proper search engine optimization tactics need to be in place, coding needs to be properly validated, back links and social networking sites need to be built, and most of all, visitor interactivity is a must. Most professional web design companies will offer all of these key elements in even their most basic of web development packages. If they do not, you should probably move on to the next company. Web design companies can charge anywhere from $10 per hour to $100 per hour making it imperative that you find a company that will work with your budget requirements. Having only a few hundred dollars to spend is not going to get you an Amazon type of site, but should get a 3 – 4 page site which will likely meet your needs. Also, a lot of web development companies have combined web design and web hosting in order to simplify your purchase and make things more affordable for your.

Shop around. Find a company that has plenty of proven and documented experience, an extensive portfolio of work they have done, guarantees their work, and offers a price point that you can afford. You need to get online, and waiting really is not an option with thousands of new sites launching weekly.

Readers who are surfing for info about free traffic, then visit the web page which is quoted in this passage.

Rating: 1.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Rating: -1 (from 1 vote)

Tags: web design
View Comments

Social Media is Helping Behavioral Health Clients and Professionals e-Tool

Behavioral Health, Social Media | Posted by Marc

Apr 01 2011

With mental health and substance abuse providers constantly seeking out the latest in treatment information and with their clients becoming much more involved in their own treatment, Social Media is becoming the tool of choice for researching information on specific behavioral health topics.

With the proper Social Media Use Policies in place, behavioral care treatment providers can easily “connect” with client populations by authoring blogs that satisfy their informational curiosities and needs and that are written in a layman language that they can easily understand and identify with. This is only the front end of the benefit.

A successfully authored blog post also encourages it readers to share comments and to subscribe to the blog by RSS feed or even to “follow” the author on Twitter. What a great way to generate interest in those who may be curious about what a particular “expert” blogger has to share with and offer the greater client population. Often this interest results in the formation of client – treatment provider professional relationship.

In addition, Social Media affords e-clients (those who use the Web to aid in their own treatment) and Social Media savvy behavioral care professionals to help spread useful information around any network that might therapeutically benefit from it. This therapeutic online synergy can only be considered a “miracle” of Social Media. It is living proof that Web technology has further evolved to innovate more quick and efficient ways to help the mentally ill and substance abusers in more ways than ever before. Millions of people are benefitting from having enlightening information available at their fingertips at any hour of the day or evening.

Consider some of the positive ways Social Media is helping the behavioral health community forge ahead on its helping mission.

Advocates and e-clients are now easily able to identify their legislators; review proposed legislation, online; and share their personal and advocated views directly with their elected representatives as well as with the community-at-large. As a result of the growth of Social Media, countless federal and state bills that can undoubtedly affect the lives and careers of behavioral health consumers and their treatment professionals have been suggested, supported or dumped thanks to the comprehensive dialogs conducted over the Web during their initial considerations.
Behavioral health practitioners and field consultants are regularly sharing their thoughts and best practices on Twitter, YouTube, SlideShare, Blogs and on weekly podcasts, just to name a few outlets. What better way to stay on top of advancements and who is responsible for helping them take place?
At their Websites, behavioral health organizations of all kinds include their recommended links for all sorts of informative articles, conference notifications, job openings and RFPs. They also often share their recommendations and reviews with an increasingly interested audience on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, StumbleUpon and Twitter.

No longer does one have to wait for and rummage through a whole litany of monthly and quarterly professional journals and newsletters to get information that is readily available on the Web.

The “word” surrounding Social Media within the professional circles of the behavioral health treatment community has not all been positive, thus far. In fact, in many health care circles including the medical profession, there is some ambivalence about what is being called the “e-movement.” The e-movement accounts for the growing momentum of Social Media, which has made it often the very first place many people go to locate a diagnosis and to find out what treatment options, are available to them. They used to just call a Dr. or a counselor and make an appointment to come in for a consultation. Not so much, anymore.

Professionals have become very used to being considered “experts” are not all comfortable with their patients or clients becoming anything more than the passive consumers they have always considered them to be.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital physician Alan Greene, MD, is particularly social-media-savvy (he has a Twitter feed, Facebook page and very interactive website) – and he shares his thoughts in the article:

“A couple of generations ago, the house call was the common way physicians would find out about the real lives of people and make an impact right in the middle of their lives, and today it’s social media,” says Dr. Greene.

This is a new and harsh reality for some. The e-movement certainly levels the playing field for everyone – to a very large degree – and results in different types and perhaps much stronger (financially) health care and behavioral care partnerships that can endanger the livelihoods of both the highly competent and the unquestionable subpar individual practitioner, alike. The overall value of Social Media to e-clients and those behavioral care professionals using it as a valuable tool for better health, certainly swamp this argument. Social Media has been a boon to e-clients and practitioners in behavioral health care and there are no signs of its popularity and value waning anytime soon.

###

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Tags: behavioral health care, behavioralhealth, mental illness, mentalillness, social media, socialmedia, substance abuse, substanceabuse, The Center, thecenter
View Comments

GUEST BLOG: Virus Protection And The Steps Taken To Maintain A Clean PC

Internet Security | Posted by Marc

Mar 25 2011

The google redirect virus and system tool virus are examples of common types of computer viruses. This is a brief guide on how to protect your computer from being infected.

Never View Unethical Sites – Never go to any ‘unethical’ sites on the Internet. This includes pornography, hacking and software piracy sites. Depending on your source most porn sites do not contain viruses but I would stay far away from any ‘unethical’ site. Like I said in the introduction, these are steps which I have used to stay virus free since the inception of the ARPAnet.

Never Watch Videos that Request a Download – This is a new tactic the malware authors are using these days; when trying to view a video you receive a request to “update your java/Adobe Flash/other player” or “download codec to view video”. The update/codec is not a legitimate download and once it is downloaded your computer starts a downward spiral into a deep cyber-virus pit.

Always Download Drivers from the Manufactures Website – In my career I have to search and download drivers all the time. I do not have proof that the third-party driver sites contain viruses but there is no need to use them when you can download straight from the manufactures website. Once again, this is what I have been doing for years to stay virus free.

The Advanced Steps

Break Out of the Box – Use a Mac, Linux or some another system that is not the majority out there.

I am not against Microsoft products in any way. The fact still remains; the majority of all viruses are written for Windows based machines running Internet Explorer or Firefox.

If you were writing a piece of malicious software with the intention of making money, you would write the software to run on the most often used platform. Therefore, if you, the user are using an operating system or browser that is not the ‘most used’ you are greatly reducing (and possibly eliminating) your chance of getting infected.

These alternate options are becoming easier to use. I personally use a flavor of Linux called Ubuntu on my personal computer. An Ubuntu or a Mac OS X system will not see a virus for a LONG, LONG time. The more of the personal computer market share that Macs or Ubuntu start taking the more likely malware authors will start considering writing malware for those systems. It is not that these systems are free from infection (something techies like to debate) but rather it is just not practical for malware authors to spend time finding a venerability and then writing software to exploit that hole.

Some popular websites that have highly trained technician to assist in removing viruses are; GeeksToGo.com or BleepingComputer.com. If you do not want to deal with removing the virus yourself, you can contact a local computer repair shop. I run a local computer repair shop who services the central Ohio areas

If you are want to get info about the topic of web traffic, make sure to check out the web site which was quoted in this line.

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Tags: virus
View Comments

This contents needs latest version of Flash Player.

Social Media and Suicide Prevention

GUEST BLOG: Creating A Website For Your Business – It Is A Luxury Or A Requirement?

GUEST BLOG: Virus Protection And The Steps Taken To Maintain A Clean PC

Categories

About Marc Levine

Facebook & LinkedIn

My Recent Posts

All My Posts

Twitter: ICANEWFRIEND

Blogroll