Trustworthy information/advocacy sites for mental/behavioral illness?

March 1, 2007 2:19 PM

I'm trying to find a comprehensive lists of organization and resource sites for a range of behavioral and mental disorders (similar to this, but for adults as well as children).

I'm researching online resources for a very wide range of mental health issues (basically, if it's listed in DSMIV as a behavioral disorder -- eg, ADD, bipolar, migraine -- I'm trying to find it). I'm looking for orgs founded for the purpose of educating the public, political lobbying, fundraising, and patient and family support. I'm also trying to find general resource sites focusing on providing information to patients and mental health professionals. I'm aware of umbrella sites like NAMI but I'm searching more for ones tailored to particular disorders. An extensive list of recommended sites from a trustworthy source is ideal (ie, HONcode type goodness) but if you know of any individual sites you think are useful, that'd be great too. Thanks so much.

posted by melissa may to health (6 comments total)

Frig, that's comprehensive lists, not a comprehensive list. My editing skills are bubkes today.
posted by melissa may at 2:28 PM on March 1, 2007

Is this too "umbrella"? There are lots of external links within each one...I just was thinking that the NIMH is about as credible as you can get.
posted by liberalintellect at 3:30 PM on March 1, 2007

Around 1998 I wrote a paper for university about the ethics of mental health information, trustworthiness of sources and the Internet; at that point some of the best links I found at the time were psych-web.com, grohol.com (now PsychCentral.com) and (surprise surprise) mentalhealth.com. I don't know if a specific 'browse the DSM-IV via the Internet using links for each disorder' exists - sounds like a great idea, although probably not for those who are hypocondriacal. I don't even know if one or two major portals for ALL mental health issues exist per se other than the ones I mentioned, NAMI and other sites that have mental health as a topic (i.e. the About.com pages, or a site like StumbleUpon which would have human edited links 'prescreened').

As far as individual illnesses and disorders and sites devoted to them, there's a plethora of info out there - it all depends on what one considers 'trustworthy'.

As far as the NGO angle (education, lobbying, etc.), try checking out a directory of NGOs. Two specific good example of mental health related organizations I know of are the Canadian Mental Health Assocation and the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario - less flashy than the CMHA site, but still useful.

Hope these help - my email is in my profile if you want to contact me offline.
posted by rmm at 3:42 PM on March 1, 2007

I have referred to this in the past. SAMHSA has another wonderful site were you can look up local substance abuse facilities.
posted by katkel at 6:22 PM on March 1, 2007

Gosh, there are so many. There's DBSA, formerly known as NDMDA. There's the OCD Foundation -- they're excellent. There are many well-regarded web sites and web rings -- a few are Dr. Ivan's, McMan's, Pendulum. Many of these pages have lists of other pages -- see here and here. There are listservs around MH issues (see, e.g., the Madness Group). I don't think it's possible to be comprehensive, exactly. I think it would be good to have a balanced list of a range of decent resources.

Like everything else, the MH world has a lot of different ideas and approaches and politics and world views.

If you are interviewing people about on-line MH resources, I would try to contact Sylvia Caras (see Madness Group). She is considered by many (including me) to be an important leader in the use of technology around MH issues.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 8:52 PM on March 1, 2007

ClaudiaCenter, to clarify my purpose: I'm not writing an article. I'm literally trying to find an org or general resource for all the DSMIV behavioral disorders for a huge (huge!) research project. My experience as a researcher is mostly in straight-up medical disorders, so I was looking for a some big sites to get jumpstarted. You provided some very helpful links -- thank you so much. (And thanks to everyone else for answering as well).
posted by melissa may at 9:10 PM on March 1, 2007