Thank you for joining our online community!

We’ve already received some excellent feedback and requests for the discussion forums.

Thank you for viewing our blog last week and signing up for the Families for Depression Awareness Online Community e-mails. Within just 24 hours of posting my first blog, we received 39 e-mail sign-ups and 9 comments. Not bad for a new blog launch!

Many of you are excited about being a part our online community, and we couldn’t be more delighted. We want to reiterate that you belong here, and we’ll work hard to provide information and resources that really do help you with your daily issues.

The comments we received were very interesting and we appreciate your willingness to share personal struggles, hopes and wishes. This is exactly what we need to understand so we can be sure to address these issues through our discussion forums and resources.

To summarize, some of you mentioned that you’d like to see the following information:

• help for children (when a parent is depressed)
• danger signs to watch for
• helping college students cope with depression (suddenly away from home)
• motivating a depressed spouse or a loved one in denial
• how to not become depressed yourself
• how to approach the subject of therapy
• how to manage a crisis or address suicidal thoughts in a loved one
• even maintaining and enhancing a stable situation

This is an excellent start! We hope to see many more. Keep in mind that we will consider all comments and suggestions posted on this blog. And, please remember that you can post a comment anonymously if that will make you more comfortable. The main thing is—we’d love to know what will help you in this community.

We also received a few comments of appreciation for this site. Thank you! It means a lot as we build a unique community that helps you find comfort, peace and sanity through your journey with a loved one suffering from depression, bipolar disorder, or a dual diagnosis with an addiction.

I'll be in touch with you again next week.
Stacey

Welcome to a new online community focused on you!

Hi – I’m Stacey Leibowitz and I’m delighted to be your blog host.

I’m a project manager with Families for Depression Awareness, and I’m very pleased to provide you with information that can help support and sustain you as you struggle with your loved one affected by depression and/or bipolar disorder.

I’m charged with getting our online community up and running as soon as possible so you can take full advantage of the resources you’ll find here.

We’re getting ready to set up discussion forums where people like you can talk about the things only you can understand: the daily struggles, dealing with medications, finding something positive in each day and finding support for all that you do.

But first things first. We need you to tell us what you’d like to address in a discussion forum, and in my blog.

Please post your comments on this blog to let me know what will help you in this community. Do you wish to talk about a particular concern in your life? A common misconception people have about your loved one and the depression? Great books or articles you’ve found that help you? You tell us.

Initially, we’re planning to offer two discussion forums or discussion boards: one is focused on depression and the other is focused on bipolar disorder.

• Our forums will be moderated for content, questions and overall continuity of discussions.
• No post will go unanswered for over 24 hours.
• If a volunteer moderator is not available, one of the FFDA staff will answer the posting if no one else does.
• The discussion boards will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  

Please know that this forum will be safe. You will only be identified by your e-mail address, which can be constructed to protect your identity. So be sure to give us your honest opinion of what we should discuss here.

Also, we expect people to be polite and will remove anyone who is inappropriate with language, trying to sell anything, or bullying other participants.

I’ll be posting blogs regularly on topics related to support for family and friends affected by depression and bipolar disorder. Again, I’d love it if you would suggest topics and post your own comments or ideas at any time.

Welcome to our family. I look forward to “meeting you” online soon!

-- Stacey

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Disclaimer

Families for Depression Awareness makes no warranty, representation, or guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information posted on the Families for Depression Awareness Blog. FFDA assumes no responsibility or liability in connection with the reference to, reliance on, or use or misuse of such information. The information, opinions and recommendations presented within FFDA's Blog site are for general information only and should not be construed as medical advice or diagnosis, nor as advice about treatment of any specific medical condition. FFDA does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, medication, process, method of treatment, service, or organization presented or mentioned on the FFDA Blog site. You must consult a medical or mental health professional to be diagnosed and treated for depression or any other psychiatric disorder.