Twitter, Aliveworld, and Your Mental Health

By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
June 15, 2009

In a recent article Rick Nauert wrote about the probability of a web-based therapy for depression. I think the key point he makes is at the end where Professor Andrews reports that this is not really meant to replace current face-to-face therapy, but:

“Internet programs could be utilized extensively to enhance existing mental health services.”

This has been my feeling for quite some time. How can we harness the power of a medium that people are connected to on a daily basis to support mental health? I guess reading blogs is one way. There are also other sites that bring people through very cost effective standalone treatment programs like in Aliveworld. Aliveworld provides these cost effective interactive programs from leading authors to work with issues from stress, anxiety, anger, money, weight loss, to spiritual development. Other sites have created live programs such as emindful.com.

Even though I was a weary critic of Twitter, I have begun to realize how it can be effective in supporting people who want to integrate a more mindful way of living throughout the day. I created the Mindful_Living twitter feed where people receive mindfulness-based insights for the purpose of popping them into a mindful place at a point during the day. I believe that over time this will make it more natural to just become mindful throughout the day. To get more mindful living in daily life, go to http://twitter.com/Mindful_Living.

With my great support of web-based programs it’s also noteworthy that while there are great technologies that are arising to support mental health, at the same time it is vital that we use it in moderation and we know when to unplug. There is a fine line in becoming too absorbed with our gadgets and it is important to let go of the electronic leash sometimes and live life away from the web.

But go ahead and have a play, see how these programs work for you. When working with our mental health, it is good to create a supportive environment to do so and these types of programs can be part of your environment. At the end of the day, we are all individuals and what may work for some, may not work for another. But, we’ll never know unless we give it a shot.

As always, please share your thoughts, stories, and questions below. Your interaction here provides a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. He is co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook (New Harbinger, February 2010) Check out Dr. Goldstein's acclaimed CD's on Mindful Solutions for Stress, Anxiety and Depression, Addiction and Relapse Prevention, and Success and Stress Reduction at Work -- "They are so relevant, I have marked them as one of my favorites on a handout I give to all new clients" ~ Psychiatrist. He also current has a FREE Mindful Companion EBook: Top Mindfulness Quotes and How They Can Support Your Mental Health. If you're wanting an interactive program to find relief from anxiety and stress, check out Dr. Goldstein's progressive online behavioral change program in Aliveworld. If you're wanting to integrate more mindfulness into your daily life, sign up for his Mindful Living Twitter Feed. Dr. Goldstein is also available for private psychotherapy.

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One Comment to
“Twitter, Aliveworld, and Your Mental Health”

Gary Graye at 5:12 am on June 16th, 2009

Hi Alisha,
Thank you for an interesting post.
I wanted to validate points that you made; one size does not fit all and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. I also think that it would be hypocritical not to use every resource that is available to us in the constant developing world that we are now living in.
Thank you
Regards
Gary Graye