Mind Support: A Systematic Review of Online Peer Support Platforms

Abstract

Provision of mental healthcare is currently limited and not accessible to all those who require it. The nature of this gap in mental health support calls for a solution that is more accessible, affordable and personalized to prevent the exacerbation of mild mental health issues and to offer support as an adjunct to state of the art therapeutics. To this effect, the non-profit mental health foundation “Mind Support” has been set up, an online peer support platform. This paper analyses the approach and solutions offered by this platform for the growing gap in mental health support and demonstrates the benefits and limitations of online peer support in general. Online peer support as provided by “Mind Support” has the advantage of being anonymous and is free of charge making it accessible to everybody. At the same time, “Mind Support” reaps the benefits of traditional peer support options, such as having a more trauma-informed approach rather than an illness-focused one, aiding in the reduction of stigma and welcoming dialogue. The aim of this article is to stimulate the use of online tools to bridge the mental health support gap.

Professional and Peer Social Support-Oriented mHealth App: A Platform for Adolescents with Depressive Symptomatology

“…This platform has the same structure as F4, enabling users to have private conversations via texting or direct-communication (voice calls and video calls) and sharing files. The purpose of this feature is to bring peers together, to perceive empathy, respect and support among users [42]. Hence, it is expected that this feature would have a positive influence on the depressive symptomatology.…”