Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1009460
Hopelab & Well Being Trust 88 Appendix "A mood tracker and virtual diary has helped me to determine when my depression and anxiety have been bad enough to consider asking my doctor about changing my medicine." – 22-year-old White female "I search for people on YouTube that were posting about their anxiety disorders and it help me understand that I needed to tell my mother about mine." – 17-year-old White female "I wanted to understand the mental health diagnosis I was given and looked up exactly what it was and other people's experi- ences with such illness. I did find what I was looking for and it did help because it helped me realize that I wasn't alone." – 20-year-old Latina female "I was not doing well with my anxiety and depression but I looked it up and decided to talk to my mom and am doing better." – 20 year-old male "[I went online] for ideas on how to deal with stress and anxiety in a natural way and pretty much just looking for advice. Although I didn't really find any groundbreaking advice, what was really helpful was finding other people in the same situation." – 21-year-old female "I currently use an app for depression, it helps me relax, clear my mind, decrease stress, focus and sleep." – 22-year-old Black female "My friend was going through a rough time and I didn't know how to help him, so I went to Google to find answers on what to do. It didn't exactly help, it just told me things that I already knew." – 14-year-old White male "I was having panic attacks and wanted to know more about taking [a mood stabilizing medication]." – 16-year-old White female "I have talked regularly in the past on various social media about my own struggle with depression and how it affected the course of my life." – 22-year-old Latina female "[A meditation app I use] introduces you to and talks you through mindfulness meditation which can be extremely helpful dealing with anxiety and sensory overload." – 21-year-old Black male "Depression over feeling left out in various social group in high school. I found out my feelings were common and that they'd go away, but I wouldn't say that was helpful. I thought if it was so common I wouldn't bother anyone about it." – 14-year-old female "I love [my favorite app] because it helps keep my thoughts away from self-harm." – 20-year-old Latina female "A friend from co-op has been suffering from all three due to being sexually assaulted. I found many different sites that talked about how to help someone in that situation. Did it help? Most of the help I was able to provide was in spending time with her and learning how to help her specifically. So the online stuff gave me some ideas, but it was too general." – 14-year-old White female "[I used] an app for depression and other diseases...it helped me because I could talk to people who would actually listen to me I would recommend the app to anyone going through any struggle in their life...including you, reader." – 22-year-old Black male "A friend of mine was always sleeping and sad so I looked it up and I told her mom that I thought my friend was depressed." – 17-year-old Latino male In Their Own Words Young people, depression, and online health resources