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You are here: Home / Thoughts and Tips / Depression Chat: Pros and Cons to Keep in Mind

August 4, 2011 By Dr. Greg Hamlin

Depression Chat: Pros and Cons to Keep in Mind

It may be impossible to count the number of conversations or chats that take place on the web every single day.  If you think you may be depressed you might be tempted to look for a depression chat where you can join the conversation.  I have a split opinion about this so I thought I would highlight some of the pros and cons to keep in mind before relying too much on depression chat.

Pros:

  • Depression tends to make people isolate themselves.   This usually compounds the depression.  Depression chat may be a first step for someone to reverse the patterns of social withdrawal.
  • Many people find help online that would otherwise be unavailable in their own location.
  • For a variety of reasons, some people will never enter therapy for depression.  Depression chat can offer some pointers to steps for change.

Cons:

  • People who are depressed need interpersonal connections to break out of a stuck mood.  Face-to-face stimulates the brain toward health in a way that typing chat dialogue does not.
  • People who could see a therapist may think that depression chat is just as effective.
  • Depression chat can sometimes be about people pooling their lack of knowledge instead of getting solid answers.

Filed Under: Thoughts and Tips Tagged With: depression chat

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