Party drugs, social media and the internet

Party drugs, social media and the internet

by | Oct 18, 2012 | mental health, NHS stuff | 0 comments

 How might social media be used by mental health and other NHS services to reach potential users and reduce barriers?  I do spend a reasonable amount of time in many a working day operating like a Twitter-seeking missile, ferreting out social media enthusiasts amongst my health and social care colleagues, wherever I go. When I fix my sights on an unfortunate victim I have a general tendency to pounce (apologies for metaphor mixing – it’s late…). This is what has happened to Dr John Roche. I have even managed to twist his arm (virtually of course) to write a guest post for me. My only disappointment is that he has failed to mention the legendary slogan ‘mugs not drugs’ (you’ll have to check out his website to find out more about that). Here is his post…  ‘Leeds Club Drug Clinic was started in December 2011 at Leeds Addiction Unit (part of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) in response to increasing referrals for ‘party drugs’ such as ketamine, mephedrone and GHB/GBL. When we looked at the rferrals for these drugs we noticed that many were aged 18-25 and there was very poor engagement, with many not attending their first appointment or dropping out of treatment quickly. People told us that many found it very intimidating seeking help and these drugs were less well understood than alcohol and heroin. Although the substances might be different, there are many similarities in how we can help someone, but people need to be engaged with their treatment and feel that the service is meeting their needs. ‘Many people who use our service are working or studying, so evening appointments are important. We have tried to reduce...
The perfect social media platform – what elements would you include?

The perfect social media platform – what elements would you include?

by | Oct 14, 2012 | mental health, PhD | 1 comment

So what would the perfect social media platform look, feel and sound like if we had wellbeing at the centre of our collective designer-minds? This is one the many questions we considered at a workshop facilitated by myself and Aiden Moseby aka @textartist as part of the Leeds Digital Festival on 11 October 2012. We were joined by Anna Roberts  aka @miri_ness and we started with her Facebook vs Reality photography exhibition at the Round Foundry Media Centre as our inspiration.  Our workshop comprised a fabulous mix of digital and mental health world peeps, plus plenty of others inbetween, and even a few six formers for good measure. Participants were open and candid and this was invaluable to a great discussion. So the first thing I learnt was that the topic appears to be of interest to more people than just those working in the mental health sector. Our packed house and diverse mix of participants gave a good indication of this. The second thing I learnt was that our emotional responses to social media are less about specific platforms and more about purpose, meanings and behaviours. Her are a few factors we considered: Personability – some suggest that being personable but not always personal can be a protective factor. Others described it as sharing versus spilling Persona – a congruent offline/online persona is more likely to afford a sense of wellbeing than trying to be someone we aren’t Blogging for wellbeing – writing as a process of self-reflection, understanding and engaging can have therapeutic effects – process as much as product Making a contribution – sharing ideas and resources...