Kate Anthony

OTI Europe Ltd | Consultancy, Personal Training and Research for Online Therapeutic Services

   
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#wmhd15 – How Post-War Countries are Meeting MH Challenges

October 10, 2015 by Kate Anthony

We all get used to our own government’s attitudes to poor mental health, and with apologies for a fairly sweeping statement, those attitudes generally fall short of the ideal. A common theme is that if you have a broken leg, you get treatment – but if you have a broken mind, you are sidelined, often feared, and usually facing an uphill struggle to gain the treatment you need.
I blog for World Mental Health Day But what if you live in a country where the concept of mental health and the attention it deserves is so new that finding the route to satisfactory help is something of a mystery to you?

My company, the Online Therapy Institute, is proud to work with a small organisation in Kosovo – and will soon be working with a similar organisation in Albania – in bringing safe mental health assistance to those people living in these post-war countries. Many places in Eastern Europe simply don’t have the infrastructure that countries such as the UK and USA have in place for treating mental health issues – however seemingly broken those infrastructures may be.

But what such countries in Eastern Europe DO have is a strong will to make things better for their young populations, and they also have the Internet. The issues these young populations face are many and diverse, particularly in the years after the war ended and as the countries rebuild.

Foundation Together Kosova is a small non-profit organisation with the cheering slogan “Nuk de Vet!” (You Are Not Alone!). To reach out to their citizens suffering with mental health problems, they run a forum-based website and chat service. They ensure their volunteer mental health professionals are trained to work in the online environment, and are about to hold a second conference day in Pristina (the capital of Kosova) to spread awareness of mental health issues, particularly those faced by young people.

I’m telling you all this because as part of World Mental Health Day, this small charity deserves attention for quietly getting on with mental health assistance in their part of the world. In my often daily interactions with the volunteers as they work through my training programme, I hear their dedication and their commitment to “getting it right” in a country where there are few ground rules for counselling and therapeutic services – let alone online services.

The Internet has transformed mental health services – most counselling and psychotherapy organisations (among those in other helping professions) have an online presence, and we are now very used to Googling our symptoms of distress before we visit our medical practitioner. That a small charity in an often overlooked country is there at the forefront of online mental health – not only to make a difference to the people but also to help shape the mental health services of the future – is something we as a world can be proud of.

Online Learning – throw in your own buffet and it’s just like being there!

March 30, 2015 by Kate Anthony

I recently co-wrote an article with John Wilson of OnlinEvents in TILT Magazine (see page 13) about the subtleties of attending online conferences and how, if you ignore the lack of a decent buffet, the learning experience can be just as rich and fulfilling as being actually at the conference centre.  A big part of this is the delegate chat room being fully functional to allow like-minded people to connect, network, have fun, and discuss the learning points as they are taught. I’ve been to countless online webinars and other events, and rarely come away disappointed. I’ve even remotely been at a stable in Chesterfield to learn and discuss Equine Therapy!Cover TinyTake

Our students attend many online events as part of their learning, and so I am really pleased to blog about the upcoming interview with Jane Fahy, who is not only a graduate of our Certified Cyber Facilitator Course but who is also now an OTI Tutor, having written our course about using blended technologies (i.e online and offline sources) to help those with a gambling addiction.

Having got bored with world of finance seven years ago, Jane retrained as a counsellor and has been specialising in working with problem gamblers ever since as Clinical Services Manager for GamblingTherapy.org, heading up the online support services. As her initial work with the organisation was as a face-to-face counsellor in their residential services, she has seen both sides of the treatment coin!

I put Jane in touch with John at OnlinEvents and now I can share details of the upcoming FREE webinar on the 17th April at 7.30pm UK time. So if you have an interest in learning more about online support and counselling – and how that works on the global stage – make sure you sign up for the event here!

And why not treat yourself and put on a complete buffet selection? That way you’ll have the full conference experience!

🙂

Gaming online – when does it turn into a diagnosable psychiatric disorder?

October 1, 2014 by Kate Anthony

I have a special interest in this field, not only as part of my work in general but as an avid gamer myself.  With the exception of World of Warcraft (more on that later), I’ve pretty much run the gamut of gaming, from the Atari’s Pacman and Space Invader games back in the 70s right through the Legend of Zelda suite to the current rash of mobile and Facebook time-sucks (I use that term fondly) such as Bubble Witch Saga 2 and Candy Crush.

And I can truthfully say that Level 500 of CCS sucks:

cc

Recently a group of researchers tackled the controversial fact that the DSM-V includes non-substance addiction as a psychiatric diagnosis, in the journal Addiction.  This is a very welcome paper, not least because the DSM-V has pretty much sidelined the concept of general Internet addiction in favour of the specific behaviours conducted over the Internet. This has wide implications for various online addictions, including gambling, sex and virtual reality environments.

I found the recent showing in the UK of Web Junkie riveting – of course I was aware of the gaming boot camps in China, but watching the participants discuss their use of nappies to ensure they didn’t miss a minute of the game for their hygienic needs really brought home the huge problems gaming can cause.  These boot camps cost twice the parent’s average monthly income to attend – it is apparently never voluntary and often involves subterfuge to get the young people there in the first place.  Indeed, when a group of the boot camp members “escaped”, they headed straight for the nearest Internet Cafe to play for four hours before being “caught”.  Many cite combating loneliness as one of the main attractions.

I took one look at the game World of Warcraft when at a friend’s house, and vowed never to touch it.  The appeal of those beautiful graphics, the team-playing, the role-playing, the social side of like-minded people banding together to defeat obstacles and missions…  what’s not to like if you are an avid gamer?  My gaming colleagues and friends (you know who you are) have tempted me over the years – but WoW is a time-suck too far for someone who already has mild(ish) issues with online gaming.  I have almost (almost) sacrosanct boundaries in place for my gaming habit, playing only three in any one period (currently Bubble Witch Saga 2, Diamond Diggers Saga and the epic Tribez and Castlez, since you didn’t ask). These boundaries are necessary for reasons of both time (addiction/avoidance) and finance (in-gaming purchases to facilitate the addiction) – my time on Candy Crush Saga and Kitchen Scramble meant I eventually had to block them from all my devices (though if you’re ever stuck on a level, give me a shout 😉 )

There are complicated reasons for all addictions, and those within online gaming should not be ignored.  My current work is focusing on the innocent use of gaming to combat other addictions, not least gambling -after all, it’s only virtual money, right?  Wrong – my anecdotal research with gamblers show that online freemium play models are triggers, and a short step to being back in the offline casino or similar.  The DSM-V inclusion is welcome if only to bring the topic to the fore and allow academics to reach conclusions around potential treatment.

But let’s not forget the inclusion of the excellent concept of gamification in therapy!  For further reading, I’ll refer you to my colleague Mike at GamerTherapist.com – the guru of gamer affirmative psychotherapy.  Check out his blog to understand the positives gaming can bring to life experience – and happy (boundaried) gaming!

🙂

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