Mental Health
RealMentalHealth.com - An Internet Oasis for Mental Health Patients
By
Sep 11, 2006 - 7:00:00 AM

REALMENTALHEALTH.COM
AN INTERNET OASIS FOR MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS

By Lee Degenstein

(HealthNewsDigest.com).. In just 15 short years, the internet has grown to become a part of our daily lives. With more than one million sites to visit, the internet offers something for everyone and information on everything. However it was not until recently, did mental health patients have a place to go on the internet where they could actually chat, and communicate in real time with others diagnosed with similar disorders.

Launched in May of 2006, realmentalhealth.com (www.realmentalhealth.com) has already become an important site for mental health patients with disorders like, Bipolar, Personality Disorders, Alzheimer’s, Schizophrenia, drug and alcohol addiction, AHDH and even Tourettes Syndrome to name just a few.

Like many other healthcare related sites, realmentalhealth.com contains a plethora of medical information, but takes its content a few steps further. This unique site affords its users the ability to write their own blogs and to even communicate real time in live chartrooms.

The idea for realmentalhealth.com, according to its founder Martin Ogawa, came from the success of other “social networking” sites such as the immensely popular MySpace.com. Ogawa, who has a technology background and has had a lifelong interest in healthcare, realized that there was no place on the internet where mental health patients could engage in serious conversations with each other.

“We wanted to create a networking site where people with mental health issues could speak in real time with other people with the same disorders. It’s important that these users not be isolated with their mental health problems,” Ogawa told HealthNewsDigest.com. “A user suffering from Depression can get support and help from others who understand the problems and issues that are surround the disorder”.

In addition to the real time Chat feature and its voluminous content of mental health information, realmentalhealth.com also offers its users individual groups broken down by disorder where visitors can email, chat, write their own blog and offer both help and hope to others.

In less than four months since its launch, RealMeltalHealth.com already boasts more than 60,000 visitors each month, and expects to be profitable by the fourth quarter of this year. So far 90% of the site’s visitors are from the United States and Canada. The site is free and revenues are generated from advertising. Several of the site’s investors have healthcare backgrounds and also serve as advisors along with the site’s editors to assure content is kept accurate and up to date.

Ogawa told HealthNewsDigest.com “There’s really nothing like realmentalhealth.com on the internet. We have tried to create a community where everyone who visits feels wanted and comfortable whether they are a mental health patient or not. It’s all about creating the feeling of a community”.

HealthNewsDigest.com spoke with Tamara, one of the site’s users who has Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder. The symptoms include, hearing voices, dizziness coupled with major mood swings from high to low. She has had Bipolar Disorder since she was a child and was finally diagnosed properly years later while serving in the military.

Tamara or “Dizzy Girl” as she’s known online, found out about the site from a friend who was searching the internet. She was attracted to it almost immediately as she realized that a community existed where she could speak with other people with the similar mental health issues.

“Realmentalhealth.com is like an oasis for me”, she said, “there is a real feeling of community and there is a lot of love and support among its members. I usually don’t run into a lot of people who have what I have. It’s nice to know I am not alone and that a place now exists where I can openly chat with others like me. Unlike some other sites, people here are serious about helping and supporting each other. There are no silly chat room antics going on” she told HealthNewsDigest.com.

Tamara mentioned that she feels needed and wanted by the site’s other members and has a feeling of importance because she is helping other people by comparing notes and lending an ear. She added, “While my husband and two children are very supportive, sometimes they can’t understand what I am feeling or thinking, the people I communicate with on the site can”. She gets in excess of 20-30 emails a day from friends on the site. In short Tamara says this site has really changed her life in a very positive way.

Many of the site’s regular users are not mental health patients at all. However they may have spouses, children, and relatives or just know someone who does. The site offers them a better understanding of what their friends or relatives are going through, what their life is like and even how to deal or cope with the problems and issues that these patients experience every day. For example a mother of an ADHD child can speak with mother of another ADHD child and compare experiences on raising their kids.

On a personal note, I spent a good deal of time on the site in preparation for this story. I was favorably impressed with what I saw. Mr. Ogawa and his team have put a lot of effort, energy and creativity into this well thought out site. All too often these so called “social networking” sites deal with issues of a much less serious nature. RealMentalHealth.com is serious business. When you explore this easy to use site and discover all that it has to offer, you come away with a feeling of a community that is there to serve, inform and support its members. Rarely will you find an internet site that has such an impact upon its visitors. You can reach the site at www.realmentalhealth.com.


Lee Degenstein is a Columnist at Large for HealthNewsDigest.com. He has covered the financial markets for print and broadcast media for more than 15 years. Mr. Degenstein was also the news director and morning anchor at two major radio stations in New Jersey. He has been a reporter/contributor to United Press International, The Associated Press, The Mutual Broadcasting System and New York 1 News. A former winner of the Associated Press award for 'best business story' he lives and works in New York City. Mr. Degenstein can be reached by email at:

lee@healthnewsdigest.com
© copyright 2006, Lee Degenstein. All rights reserved.
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