I am equally guilty when it comes to turning to the internet for help. I consider myself pretty proficient when it comes to finding what I need online, and I think of the internet as an invaluable resource.

However, I don’t use it as a therapist. Sadly, many depressed teens are turning to the internet for help rather than seeking treatment from their doctor or a therapist. The United Kingdom’s The Independent recently posted an article on their website about how schoolchildren are basically Googling questions when it comes to their mental health:

“In a study conducted by the Children’s Commissioner’s office to determine where children go to seek help for mental health or emotional problems, Ms Longfield found that two-thirds searched on the internet, while fewer than half contacted their doctor, and 18 per cent went to their school nurse.”

The stigma surrounding mental illness is one that keeps a lot of people from seeking the treatment they need, but even more dangerous is the wrong advice. It’s a slim chance that you’ll find the exact answer you need on the internet, and many websites are less than credible. Either that, or the advice is from people who aren’t experts in the area of mental health.

I, myself, would never ask anyone to take my advice as gospel or as sound medical advice. I do my best to be honest and use credible sources in my research, but I’m not a doctor, therapist or psychologist. I don’t have a degree in the mental health field. My area of expertise is creative writing and experiencing GAD, depression and BPD. That is the extent of my credibility.

This goes for a lot of mental health bloggers as well. This is not to put any mental health blogger down, it’s just to emphasize the fact that you should seek professional help along with reading the advice on their blogs. Most mental health bloggers have great advice, but don’t substitute a blog for a doctor or therapist. Don’t substitute Google for a therapist either. It’s a search engine, not Dr. Phil. In fact, don’t use Dr. Phil as a substitute either. He’s more of a TV personality than an actual doctor.

Hopefully, we can someday fix our healthcare system so that people can get the help they need at an affordable price. The Affordable Care Act is anything but a fix, but there’s still hope that we can find a solution.