Isolation in a networked world

Over a year ago I read a fascinating blog post from @chaosandcontrol, a prominent blogger who set out to chart their progress through treatment for an eating disorder.

The blog post detailed an important incident on an inpatient ward which has since been shared, discussed and debated on the mental health social media circuit. As such, though 'Little Feet' originally envisioned their blog as something short term and focussed on a single path towards recovery, they have become a (perhaps unintended) champion for social media.

From a point of great insight, Little feet suggests how effective training and policies around social media would enable those who are unwell to take full therapeutic benefit from communicating online while keeping themselves safe.

Of course, clear guidance would also help staff do the right thing in somewhat unknown territory. It would help them to manage any risks more appropriately and less paternally. I believe that most members of staff are confused, anxious and ill-informed about social media, maybe not in the way they use Facebook or similar outside of work, but certainly in considering how they should use it as an identified member of staff or how they should advise/manage it's use by their patients. 

This is of course right up my street, both personally and professionally. Professionally, I'm our social media bod, meaning that I am the person most interested in social media, not a self-professed expert (even the title makes me squirm). Personally, I'm rarely without my smart phone. Like most people I know, it has become my diary, my morning alarm, my map, my dictionary, my camera... the list is endless. Social media apps dominate my cache and other than it's primary function, I use my phone mainly to interact with friends, family, colleagues and absolute strangers online. 

The blog post I read a year ago from @chaosandcontrol could easily have brought me out in an instant rash. The thought of feeling at my lowest, and then being forced to hand over my phone, and with it all lines to my family and friends, was hard to comprehend. Even trying my best to think objectively, I couldn't imagine any possible risks that could outweigh the benefits for me of being able to stay in touch with the world, have a presence on and enjoy interactions in social media and be comforted by those I consider my closest confidants. 

Things have moved on dramatically since Little Feet blogged about this incident and today another social media champion, @VictoriaBetton, Deputy Director at Leeds and York Partnership (which were not the trust originally involved), published a conversation she recently had with Little Feet about the pros and perils of social media in mental health. A fantastic read that I strongly endorse, and well worth taking the time to digest and chat about over a coffee (or wine, it is Friday after all).  

All this is just a snippet of the great under-current of feeling that surrounds the governing of social media, and it's far more wide reaching than just mental health. I recently read about new software that would allow government bodies and those that represent them to disable the recording apparatus in smart phones, at protests and rallies for example, a reaction to the furore about police brutality.

It's not easy to get this balance right and I believe it will be years until the big hierarchical institutions put together a sensible set of policies that takes into account the very real right to free speech, when well or possibly more importantly, when unwell. The good news is, it seems the right kind of people (Victoria and Little Feet included) are involved in leading the debate, atleast in the social media world, and that their voices are ringing out amidst all the noise. 

(Image sourced from Favim.com, original source unknown)