More young people are seeking mental health support online, rather than over the phone or face to face

ReachOut’s five year review (2011-2015) offers us an insight into the growing numbers of young people seeking support and how they are doing it.

Over the first five years of operation in Ireland ReachOut.com, Ireland’s online youth mental health service, found that 62% of young people would visit a website for support when going through a tough time. Young people are most likely to look for support online, and favour online support as highly as speaking to a friend, it is a first port of call over talking to a health professional (38%), calling a helpline (14%) or speaking to a parent or guardian (28%).¹

To discuss the increasingly large role that technology plays not only in our lives but also in our health ReachOut will be hosting their 4th annual ‘Technology for Wellbeing’ Conference on Wednesday 14^th September, in the Marker Hotel Dublin. The conference provides a place for people to explore and discuss technology and the growing role it plays in mental health. The conference is attended by a broad mix of people from policy makers, to health managers, researchers, media, students and the technology sector.

ReachOut CEO Elaine Geraghty said “It’s clear that more young people are looking for support online. This highlights the importance of providing a comprehensive and trusted support hub online for young people to turn to when they need it, and that’s what ReachOut aims to do. After the success of the Technology for Wellbeing International conference over the last three years were are delighted to be hosting it again in 2016. We have some great speakers confirmed so far and more to follow. We want the conference to become the place for a robust discussion around how we can harness the power of technology for good to help and support our young people – as so often online is the place where there can be so much negativity and danger.”

Already confirmed to speak at the conference is Jono Nicholas, CEO ReachOut Australia. Jono is a member of the original team that launched ReachOut in Ireland in 2009 and is one of Australia’s most prominent advocates on youth mental health. Jono will be speaking about the international evidence on the impact of technology in improving mental health for young people. Also confirmed are Avril Ronan from Trend Micro who will speak about Internet Safety and Colman Noctor, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist from St. Patrick’s Hospital will talk about effects of contemporary media on mental health.

The selected themes for this year’s conference include: Online mental health service delivery, Innovation in technology and mental health, Social media and mental health, Suicide prevention and the internet, Mental health promotion online, National policy in technology and mental health, Good practice in the safe delivery of online mental health services, Technology, cyber safety and young people and Youth participation and engagement with online interventions.

You can register here. Tickets are €95 and student rate is €45 with early bird tickets available until mid-July. For more information on the conference, tickets and speakers visit reachout.com/about/programme-2016

Young people can turn to ReachOut from anywhere and at any time, for peer support and to learn more about what they’re going through visit ReachOut.com.

¹About ReachOut’s five year review (2011-2015)

Figures are taken from ReachOut.com Insights Exploring Five Years of User Profiling Data: A review on awareness, attitudes, knowledge and behavior related to youth mental health and help-seeking online.The annual survey looked at awareness, attitudes, knowledge and behavior related to youth mental health and help-seeking online and revealed high levels of distress in young people visiting the site.