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Commentary

Is What You’re Reading Junk? Evaluating the Quality of Mental Health Websites, Part 2

by Mike Nichols on July 15, 2009 · 0 comments

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The internet is a minefield full of inaccurate, biased sites.

How do you tell the difference between good information and bad information? You need a guide to help you evaluate sites, to tell whether the articles presented are valid and accurate, to discover when someone is trying to sell you something, and to discern between a legitimate view and a crackpot’s rant.

This two-part series of articles is intended to be a guide for you in your search for trustworthy information. It outlines the collective wisdom of medical librarians, mental health professionals, professional associations, and other experts who surf the web every day to discover quality information in support of clinical and scientific decision making by professionals responsible for the nation’s mental health.

Today’s information, part 2 of the series, is presented under the following headings:

  • How old is the information? When was it published or reviewed?
  • Does the site support the doctor-patient relationship?
  • Privacy, advertising, and other policies should be clearly stated
  • How does the site interact with visitors?

Be sure to read yesterday’s installment, too. It discussed these topics:

  • What is the purpose of the site?
  • Who owns the site? How is it funded?
  • Be on guard for bias and competing interests
  • Authorship and affiliation are important
  • Authority and cited sources

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Is What You’re Reading Junk? Evaluating the Quality of Mental Health Websites, Part 1

by Mike Nichols on July 14, 2009 · 0 comments

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The internet allows patients, consumers, physicians, and other mental health care professionals to quickly access mental health information.

Millions of Americans search for mental health information on the web every year. Whether the information is needed for personal reasons or for a loved one, millions of mental health-related web pages are viewed. Sometimes the information found is authoritative, unbiased, and just what was needed. Other searches end in the retrieval of inaccurate, even dangerous, information.

How do you know whether the site you’re looking at presents valid, up-to-date information, or whether it is trying to sell you something, the rantings of a lunatic with an axe to grind, or otherwise bogus?

This article is intended to be a guide for you in your search for trustworthy information. It outlines the collective wisdom of medical librarians, mental health professionals, professional associations, and other experts who surf the web every day to discover quality information in support of clinical and scientific decision-making by professionals responsible for the nation’s mental health.

This is the first of a 2-part series. The information for today is presented under the following headings:

  • What is the purpose of the site?
  • Who owns the site? How is it funded?
  • Be on guard for bias and competing interests
  • Authorship and affiliation are important
  • Authority and cited sources

Tomorrow’s installment, Part 2, will continue with the topics:

  • How old is the information? When was it published or reviewed?
  • Does the site support the doctor-patient relationship?
  • Privacy, advertising, and other policies should be clearly stated
  • How does the site interact with visitors?

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Where Have You Been? Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

by Mike Nichols on March 13, 2009 · 12 comments

question-mark-smI‘m about to violate a rule for bloggers: Don’t ever explain a protracted absence from blogging. Blogging experts say that it’s better to “never complain and never explain” and to just pick up blogging where you left off.

However, I feel that I owe it to my readers to let you know why there have been no new posts in over two months, and what I’m doing about it.

The primary focus of this blog is the Anxiety Disorders, obviously. The blog’s genesis arose from my own struggles with multiple Anxiety Disorders, with the hope that I could help someone else. 

But if you read the “About Me” or the “My Story” tabs, you will learn that I also have bipolar disorder with rapid cycling. Dealing with my underlying bipolar disorder can be challenging, to say the least. 

I have been in a depressive cycle for over 2 months, and it has been very difficult to perform the basic functions in my life, much less write blog articles. Though I have good medication that prevents me from going into the deepest depression, I still could not focus or concentrate enough to write. My therapist and I are working on ways for me to continue with this blog when I am depressed, and I believe we have made good progress.

While I’m not out of the woods yet, my bipolar disorder is beginning to cycle away from  the depression. In addition, I have learned some things that will help me write, no matter what mood I happen to be in at the time.

I am working on new articles now, and I expect to resume posting very soon. I definitely am not abandoning this blog — let’s just say I’ve had a long time-out!

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HONcode Principles: How Anxiety, Panic & Health Complies With Them

by Mike Nichols on November 18, 2008 · 29 comments

The HONcode badge is awarded by the Health On the Net Foundation to sites that have passed a rigorous application process.

I am honored and excited that Anxiety, Panic & Health was certified by the Health on the Net Foundation in October, 2008. It means that this site complies with the Health on the Net Code of Conduct and can display the HONcode badge, shown on the rightmost sidebar.

The award-winning Health On the Net Foundation developed the HONcode in 1996 as a means to standardize requirements to establish the reliability and credibility of health information. It certifies websites through a stringent application and review process, then polices the site to make sure it continues to comply with its eight Principles. It has certified over 6,500 websites worldwide in 32 languages, and has partnerships with the European Union, the World Health Organization, the National Library of Medicine, and Google.

This article is the second in a two-part series. It  lists the eight HONcode Principles and how Anxiety, Panic & Health complies with them. Yesterday’s post, “HONcode Certification Earned by Anxiety, Panic & Health!” introduces the Health On the Net Foundation and describes its world-wide effort to bring accountability, reliability and quality to medical and health information on the internet.

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HONcode Certification Earned by Anxiety, Panic & Health!

by Mike Nichols on November 17, 2008 · 9 comments

Take a look at the rightmost sidebar of this blog, and you will see the HONcode badge.

I am honored and excited that Anxiety, Panic & Health was accredited by the Health on the Net Foundation in October, 2008. It means that this site complies with the Health on the Net Code of Conduct and can display the HONcode badge.

The award-winning Health On the Net Foundation developed the HONcode in 1996 as a means to standardize requirements to establish the reliability and credibility of health information. It certifies websites through a stringent application and review process, then polices the site to make sure it continues to comply with its eight Principles. It has certified over 6,500 websites worldwide in 32 languages, and has partnerships with the European Union, the World Health Organization, the National Library of Medicine, and Google.

This article is the first in a two-part series. Today’s post will introduce you to the Health On the Net Foundation. Tomorrow’s post lists the HONcode principles and how Anxiety, Panic & Health complies with them. Today’s topics include:

  • What is the Health On the Net Foundation?
  • What does the Health On the Net Foundation do?
  • How does a site become HONcode accredited?

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Saturday Summary: The How of Happiness, Website Changes, and Upcoming Articles

by Mike Nichols on July 26, 2008 · 3 comments

It’s been a busy, busy week here at Anxiety Central!

I’ve posted big articles every day, each one of which took 3-4 hours to write.

And I’ve been working on the Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) reference article, and am almost finished (30 hours and counting). I hope to have it up by Monday.

Most of you know — or can find out quickly — that Anxiety, Panic & Health passed its one month anniversary yesterday, July 25th. I’m proud to say that the site has had over 1500 page views during that time. Some of the more popular articles have been read over 100 times! You can see a list of the most popular articles on the right sidebar. 

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Saturday Summary: Anxiety Articles, Interesting Posts, Upcoming Reviews

by Mike Nichols on July 19, 2008 · 0 comments

This week I want to point out a couple of great articles on the internet for you, give you an update on the reference articles on this blog, and give you a peek at some upcoming book reviews.

But first, let me reemphasize how much I welcome your comments. They provide other readers with your insights into a post’s subject, and provide me with valuable feedback to make this blog better and better.

Please take the time to make a comment after you have read an article, or even if you didn’t finish it! I promise always to read your comments, and if appropriate, answer them. Please feel free to ask questions or suggest post topics. I’m listening!

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Murphy’s Law Strikes Again!

by Mike Nichols on July 8, 2008 · 2 comments

Yesterday a number of people trying to access this site encountered extremely slow loading times and a really, really messed up template. 

 

It seems that my server hosting company was having problems, which they fixed later in the day. However, you may still experience slow loading times until they get the issue entirely resolved.

 

Murphy’s Law found another correlate: When you start getting increased blog traffic, your template looks like you put the pieces in a hat, shook them up, and threw them at the screen!

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Happy Fourth of July!

by Mike Nichols on July 4, 2008 · 0 comments

 

Have a safe and happy Fourth!

 

Mike

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Sunday Supplement: Murphy Strikes Again!

by Mike Nichols on June 29, 2008 · 0 comments

 

Murphy, he of the Law, has been at it again. You know his motto, “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.” This time he’s struck my blog theme, the bit of software code that determines way the blog appears on the screen. 

 

After a long search, I found a theme called “Seashore” that I was very pleased with. It had a nice appearance, calm and muted, that let the posts be the most prominent thing. The picture was beautiful. It worked really well and did all the things I wanted it to do.

 

Then disaster struck. Shortly after I wrote yesterday’s post, the theme stopped working. Murphy must have been watching and detected complacency! All of a sudden, only the posts showed on top. The columns that had been on the right were all the way at the bottom! It looked like all the screen elements had been put in a hat, shaken, and thrown at the monitor! Being a neophyte at this sort of thing, I have no idea how to go about fixing it.

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