I have an idea which I think could help people

[cje.churchill]

I am 29 year old guy and for the past 6 years I have had debilitating social anxiety and have been diagnosed with GAD. I have been mostly isolated during all of this time and have felt incredibly alone which got me thinking about an idea which could help myself and others.

I am a web and graphic designer and my idea is to create a free app which is much like Facebook, only for people with mental and physical illnesses.
People could search for oher people by their illness, age, gender, location, etc... So they can find someone who they can truly connect with and then add them to their friends list to help and support eachother. You could build up a strong network around you of people who really know what you are going through and help eachother., discuss medications, share self help articles or books, etc. There would be news feeds/time lines, profile pages, messaging, and notifications of likes and comments/replies.

I really like this concept and I think it would help myself and others a lot. Of course I am biased, so I want to know if others think it is a good idea and would you use it?

[Rubymegan]

Hi. I think this is a fantastic idea! I'm sure I saw something about this on facebook recently within a 'Time To Change' post > was this also you ? One of the major problems with anxiety & depression is the isolation it causes. It makes you withdraw from people when you need them the most so anything that cuts through that as an App would can only be a good thing.

[TalkTonight]

Hi cje

As someone who hasn't logged onto my Facebook account in many moons, I think your idea could prove very marketable.

When I'm depressed or anxious, Facebook can be a technological slap in the face. At my lowest ebb, it appears that everyone I know (and their children; and their pets) are enjoying the time of their lives. And it's always on my bluest day of the year that everyone demands to know how I'm doing. It would be so comforting to have a group of online friends with whom I could be candid and share how life really is.

If such an app existed, I would buy it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

This does already exist as a cottage industry. Many groups have set up closed mental health FB groups. That's part of the issue, how many people are going to put it out there so anyone in the world can search and find you and potentially all your posts about your intimate thoughts?

For me, it's an absolute no chance but I have voted it could be useful for others. I'm a private person by nature hence using this place without my real name & a picture. I'm far too familiar with how social media can be misused by unscrupulous people including employers.

The self help side is already well saturated with many high profile people so I'm not convinced that will be useful. It might make sense to work with the charities there though so that you can allow them to feed through the app to take the pressure of you otherwise I doubt you will ever compete with them.

Security issues need investigating too. Places like FB can be used for nefarious reasons. I can remember people I worked with updating about when they were out of their houses. :doh:

[Tyke]

Yes, I do think there is a lot of merit in this idea. MyNameIsTerry does raise some good issues with the concept though. I remember thinking what a great idea a sophisticated internet dating service would be long before they existed! It has always amazed me how much time we waste on wondering about the people around us and how they might react to our anxiety issues or being asked out or whatever. The technology is now available to at least put similar thinking people in our direction!