By Mike Stevens
Those who suffer from the condition often find depression chat rooms or forums to be a great help. One of the worst sensations victims of mood disorders experience is the sense of being utterly alone. When given the opportunity to communicate with others in the same boat, they feel less alone and supported.
An anxiety and depression chat room functions like any other chat room online. Some are perfectly anonymous, no need to sign up before posting, while the majority require a code name in order to participate. The user can then actively chat with other members of the room, or simply "lurk", watching and reading what others have to say. The chat room is real time.
A depression forum is slightly different in that it is not real time and it gives the user the freedom to simply read postings made by other members. He can then leave a reply to an existing post or create a new one. There is less pressure to communicate in a depression forum.
Experts as well as depression sufferers agree that depression chat rooms serve as a sort of group therapy. While not run by professionals, the simple act of breaking out of the isolation of depression can be helpful. More than one suicidal individual credits contacts online with saving their life, by talking them into going to the hospital after a deliberate overdose, or giving encouragement when life just seems to overwhelming to go on.
Since depression is such a lonely disease, causing the victim to feel isolated and misunderstood, many who suffer from depression wouldn't seek medical help. The friends they find in an anxiety and depression chat room may be the only ones who can give advice that will actually be taken. This is especially true of teens who tend to have a high rate of depression and who are most resistant to getting outside help. Women suffering from post-partum depression are also likely candidates for online help.
An anxiety and depression chat room can also be a good place to find follow-up resources. Most websites that host a depression forum or chat room also provide links to local mental health resources or other helpful sites online. Some websites even have trained suicide-prevention professionals on hand to monitor their depression chat rooms, resulting in a lower rate of deaths among the chatters.
Not all depression chat rooms are a good place to be, however. Since chat rooms tend not to be moderated or checked (whereas forums are) for inappropriate postings, there is always the risk of bad information. In some cases, suicide pacts are formed online, through a chat room. These are worst-case scenarios, of course, with the general consensus being that depression chat rooms are helpful.
While depression can be a debilitating disease that makes its victims feel alone and unloved, depression chat rooms and forums may be the light that some people are looking for. As a resource for those too embarrassed to seek professional help, it is invaluable.
Mike Stevens has been studying the mood disorders for years, and has written many articles on the subject. He is a regular contributor to the Depression Forum section of http://www.beat-your-depression.com , a site discussing conventional and alternative ways to treat depression and related mood disorders.
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