100% anonymous no login required mental health forums?
July 21, 2014 6:13 PM Subscribe
Hi, I'm looking for some kind of mental health forum or Q&A site that's completely anonymous, no logins needed, etc. I could probably post my question here, but I think I know what all y'all's answers would be already.
If I post anonymously here, the community will probably say "be more honest with your shrink" and "consider in-patient substance abuse treatment."
That's all well and good, but I'm looking for a less-practical-than-mefi community where I can ask these questions and get responses more along the lines of "here's what I did in that situation" and less "here's the obviously correct course of action." I know what the correct course of action is. I want some first hand accounts.
In addition, I suspect that part of what I'm looking for is a relatively consequences-free forum to post the long TMI details more as an exercise for myself than anything else.
Thanks
If I post anonymously here, the community will probably say "be more honest with your shrink" and "consider in-patient substance abuse treatment."
That's all well and good, but I'm looking for a less-practical-than-mefi community where I can ask these questions and get responses more along the lines of "here's what I did in that situation" and less "here's the obviously correct course of action." I know what the correct course of action is. I want some first hand accounts.
In addition, I suspect that part of what I'm looking for is a relatively consequences-free forum to post the long TMI details more as an exercise for myself than anything else.
Thanks
Well, the first thing that leaps to mind when you say completely anonymous, no logins needed, consequences free is, uh, 4chan. Most sites, especially advice or mental-health oriented ones, do have at least some barriers up to keep the community a little more managed.
That said, though, /adv/ can be remarkably sympathetic in a lot of cases*, and if you're more looking for people to kind of bounce off of rather than concretely helpful advice (and you're willing to tolerate a certain background noise of lulzy dickery comments), you might get something out of it.
* if you're female and there's an interpersonal component to your problem, I would gloss over that if possible. It's not that it goes badly 100% of the time, but there's definitely a contingent of misogynists who will turn it into a thing.
posted by kagredon at 7:17 PM on July 21, 2014
That said, though, /adv/ can be remarkably sympathetic in a lot of cases*, and if you're more looking for people to kind of bounce off of rather than concretely helpful advice (and you're willing to tolerate a certain background noise of lulzy dickery comments), you might get something out of it.
* if you're female and there's an interpersonal component to your problem, I would gloss over that if possible. It's not that it goes badly 100% of the time, but there's definitely a contingent of misogynists who will turn it into a thing.
posted by kagredon at 7:17 PM on July 21, 2014
Check out BrainTalk Communities, specifically the Psychiatric Disorders section or perhaps the Emotional Support or Addiction forums in the General Health Issues forum.
You'd have to create a log-in to post, but I don't think you need to supply any identifying information. They updated their site a year or two ago but they have extensive archives, if you're looking for older posts.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:22 PM on July 21, 2014
You'd have to create a log-in to post, but I don't think you need to supply any identifying information. They updated their site a year or two ago but they have extensive archives, if you're looking for older posts.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:22 PM on July 21, 2014
The Icarus Project has a forum for mental health issues that is considerably less group-think-y and judgmental than most. When it comes to mental health issues, there is no one "correct" way (despite what the pharmaceutical, psychotherapy, "recovery" industry reps will insist.) Many paths work for many people and the Icarus community values that philosophy more than most others, in my experience. You do need a login to post, but all you need to register is an email address, there's no other identifying info required.
posted by horizons at 9:46 PM on July 21, 2014
posted by horizons at 9:46 PM on July 21, 2014
Have you considered posting here but asking the mods or trusted Mefites in framing your question? If you frame it as 'give me stories' rather than 'what should I do', well, Mefites love talking about themselves almost as much as they love telling others they're wrong.
posted by tavegyl at 12:35 AM on July 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by tavegyl at 12:35 AM on July 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
the community will probably say "be more honest with your shrink" and "consider in-patient substance abuse treatment."
If those are the things you already know you need to do, my question is why you need to look elsewhere? To affirm? Many of us here are speaking from personal experience when it comes to mental health issues.
And "be more honest with your shrink" is something that's kind of... don't know how to say this quite right, but honesty with your therapeutic team is so, so important. They can't help you build your toolkit if they don't know what your toolkit needs to contain. And remember that's their job; they're not like surgeons who do things to you to fix stuff, you have to be actively participating in your own recovery. All they do is help you find the specific tools you need. If one of those is addressing substance use disorder, be upfront and say so.
I wish you the best. Mentally ill here, if you want to talk privately MeMail me and/or my email is in my profile.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:24 PM on July 22, 2014
If those are the things you already know you need to do, my question is why you need to look elsewhere? To affirm? Many of us here are speaking from personal experience when it comes to mental health issues.
And "be more honest with your shrink" is something that's kind of... don't know how to say this quite right, but honesty with your therapeutic team is so, so important. They can't help you build your toolkit if they don't know what your toolkit needs to contain. And remember that's their job; they're not like surgeons who do things to you to fix stuff, you have to be actively participating in your own recovery. All they do is help you find the specific tools you need. If one of those is addressing substance use disorder, be upfront and say so.
I wish you the best. Mentally ill here, if you want to talk privately MeMail me and/or my email is in my profile.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:24 PM on July 22, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by RainyJay at 6:18 PM on July 21, 2014 [1 favorite]