A.D.A.P.T. Concerns

I thought the A.D.A.P.T. group's idea is a very useful idea because mental health issues touch a large portion of the population. According to the World Health Organization, roughly one in four people will be affected by a mental or neurological disorder in their life time. Due to the negative stigma mental illness has, many people do not reach out for help because they are embarrassed or ashamed. This is why I feel like the A.D.A.P.T. platform is useful because it give a place for people to not feel alone, or like they are the only one who has these feelings. Even though I think the A.D.A.P.T. platform is useful, there are certain aspects that concern me and I feel like they need to be addressed for this platform to be successful.

One of my concerns is that individuals may use the blog for purposes other than supporting each other, or use it to support each other in a negative way. For example, I have learned in a nutrition class I took that there are similar blogs for individuals with eating disorders. The individuals with eating disorders share the things they do to cut calories or reduce hunger to help other individuals with eating disorders. For example, one of the tips on the blog is to chew gum to reduce hunger. I fear that this could be used in a similar way for people with depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems. For example, individuals could help people learn how to hide self injury. I feel like to counter act this the A.D.A.P.T workers would need to make sure to monitor the activity on the site very closely.

Another concern I have is that the negative energy on the blog could just cause more negative energy. I feel like having a bunch of depressed people talking to each other may not be the best idea. To counteract this, I feel like they might need to have uplifting videos and happy things on the website and blog to help keep positivity up.

Additionally, I feel like their should be professionals giving advice on the blog, not just users giving advice to each other. To counteract this the professionals could add tips, or comment on incorrect tips made by other people. I feel like they just need to make sure the advice people are giving each other is healthy and correct. For example, some bad advice people could give each other to "feel better" would be to have a drink of alcohol or smoke to calm down. While this may fix thing temporarily, it is not a long term solution. Finally, I feel like they need to provide a resources for people in the area to find free or low cost counseling. I think that while this platform is useful for not feeling alone, they need to make sure that it is not viewed as a long term solution or treatment method.