Recently, I have come across people who live in rural areas without adequate mental health resources or live outside the US and do not have the access to mental health resources that the US or some other countries may offer. Quite honestly, I am fairly ignorant of resources outside the US and cannot claim expertise about resources inside the US, either. Anyway, here are some online resources I found in my web surfing. IBPF and MHA offer links to multiple support groups.
- Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Online Support Group
- Facing Us Clubhouse
- International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF) Resources
- Mental Health America (MHA) Find Support Groups
I have never participated in an online support group, so I cannot speak to how well they work. I can say that the support I receive blogging and through social media has been incredibly helpful.
Yay! I am REALLY glad to hear that they were helpful to someone.
I wanted to add my praise for this post. As a rural educator, I shared this with some of the young people I know who live in isolated areas and they were so encouraged. I just got a FB message from one thanking me because he followed the links and was beginning to feel connected already.
You are welcome. I do hope that you find the online support helpful.
Thanks for these recources. I live in a rural area of the US, and do not have any access to treatment in my area. There is no MHA in my area (it closed down 2 years ago), but I will look into the DBSA Online support group. Thanks again, I have been looking for some time to find some help.
Perhaps He is. I love the field and am open to it.
Thank you!
You are welcome!
Perhaps God is calling back to that ministry. God bless you.
Fabulous. I wish you the best of luck in returning to the mental health field.
Awesome! Thank you, Dyane. Timely coincidence.
Welcome!
thank you for sharing these resources
Thanks for sharing your posts! You, as well as a few others, have made me miss working in the mental health field. I actually requested to switch back to the Mental Health division at my job today…it’s looking pretty good 🙂
Kitt, this is wonderful, useful information.
On the DBSA link there is currently one online support group that meets Monday evenings. Frankly I was surprised there aren’t more groups offered, but hopefully that will happen this year. However, on that same page toward the bottom there’s another link leading to Depression recovery Groups:
http://www.supportgroupscentral.com/depression/
Depression Recovery Groups (not affiliated with DBSA, but promoted by them) offer a variety of online group times & themes – it’s something to check out. They do ask for donations, and they also offer one-on-one depression recovery coaching for a small fee.
My International Bipolar Foundation blog post “Thinking Of Creating A Support Group? You Can Do It! Part 1” went live this afternoon. (Part Two will be posted in March.) Here’s the link:
http://ibpf.org/blog/thinking-creating-support-group-you-can-do-it-part-1
I still wish you could join me this weekend!!
Amen for online support!
Good to know! Thanks.