FFDA Community Voices

We’re just days away from launching our online community site, and you can have a voice in it!

2007-10-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Our team at Families for Depression Awareness has been very busy behind the scenes, getting ready to launch our new Online Community Web site. We’re very close now, and soon you’ll be able to jump onboard to find new resources and discussion forums that can help you.

You’ll certainly be among the first to know when the site goes “live.” In the meantime, we’re still looking for folks to volunteer as discussion group moderators.

Maybe you’d like to help?

As a moderator, you’ll be filling the important role as a friendly host who helps guide discussion topics, questions and commentary from everyone who participates.

This role does come with certain responsibilities, but we’ll make it very easy for you. And, you may be delighted to find it a very rewarding and helpful experience regarding your own issues in caring for someone with a depressive illness.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our “How to” moderator’s guide, and we’ll also offer a separate discussion board for moderators only. In that forum, moderators can post messages to each other and the Families for Depression Awareness staff members to ask questions, check procedures, trouble shoot any concerns that may come up, and schedule their time online with us. You’ll never be out there alone.

So please let us know if you’d be willing to help out as a moderator. Or, please pass this message along to someone you know who’d make a great moderator.

As more moderators become available, we’ll be able to add more discussion groups and time slots so there’s sure to be a discussion time and topic that’s perfect for you.

If you have any questions or comments about this, please post a comment!

I’ll check back with you next week. Happy Halloween!
Stacey Leibowitz

Our discussion group moderators: what do you think?

2007-10-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, many online discussion groups use moderators as neutral “hosts” who volunteer to keep conversations flowing as intended. We’ll be doing the same thing in our Families for Depression Awareness Online Community.

In case you’re new to discussion forums, here’s some helpful information about the role of moderators and what you can expect. We’d also like to know what you want the moderator to do or not do. After all, this is your community!

The following questions and answers should give you a solid background on our moderators.

What is a moderator? A moderator serves as a discussion host who watches for repeat messages, offensive language, “spamming” a phrase or word, and selling products or services (which is not allowed). In our community, moderators will also watch for inappropriate medical advice related to family members or loved ones with depression, bipolar disorder or a dual diagnosis with substance addiction.
Why do we use moderators for our discussion groups? We want to make sure that this forum is valuable to you and is focusing on the topics offered for each discussion thread. We’ve learned that it’s important for one person to monitor content, answer questions, keep the conversation on-topic, and address inappropriate behavior and information.
What would you like to see in our moderators? We’re planning to ask our moderators to guide topic discussions and quickly address any behavior issues. Beyond that, we’d love to know what you think a moderator’s role should be here, and what it shouldn’t be. Please post a blog comment to let us know!
How do moderators know what to do? We’re developing separate discussion boards for moderators only. These will offer a place where our moderators can post messages to each other and the Families for Depression Awareness staff members to ask questions, check procedures, trouble shoot any concerns that may come up, and schedule their time online with us.
Would you like to help this online community by volunteering as a moderator? We already have a few volunteers, but we can always use more! If you’re willing to share a day, a week, or any other time period with us, we’d love to have you on board. It can be a very flexible arrangement; you can schedule a certain time each week or rotate your time with other moderators on an ongoing basis. And, we’ll provide you with the information you need to feel comfortable in this role.

If you’re interested in moderating one of our discussion forums, or if you have any questions, please post a comment on this blog topic.

Until next time, I hope you’re enjoying your autumn.
Stacey Leibowitz

Now it’s easier to post your comments to our blog.

2007-10-05T10:43:00.001-07:00

Happy October! Thank you for viewing our blog postings and signing up for the Families for Depression Awareness Online Community emails. We want to make sure everyone feels welcome to post a comment, and we certainly want to make it easy for you to do so.

When we launched this blog a few weeks ago, we didn’t realize that the comment-posting process was a little confusing for some of you. Rest assured that we’ve fixed that problem. So, here’s a clear guide on how to post a comment to any of our blog postings.

Find the blog posting or topic where you want to post your comment.
Scroll to the bottom of that posting. There, you’ll find a link that says 0 comments (or 2 comments, etc., depending on the number of comments). It’s on the same line that says “Posted by Stacey Leibowitz …”
Click on that X comments link to view the blog posting form.
In the box titled Leave Your Comments, type in your message.
Below that box, you’ll be asked to Choose an Identity. Choose one of these three options:
- Google/Blogger - if you have a Google Blogger account, here’s were you can enter your Google account username and password.
- Other - select this option if you’d like to use your name, or a nickname, and Web page.
- Anonymous -select this if you’d rather not use your name.
If you like, you can preview and edit your comment before submitting it to our blog. Just click the [Preview] button to review what you’ve written.
Then, when you’re ready, click [Publish Your Comment]. This sends me a notice that you’ve submitted a comment. I review all of the comments, mostly to prevent spammers from using our blog to sell their products (!) so your post won’t show up right away.

That’s all there is to it!

The comments we’ve received so far have helped us understand which topics and concerns you’d like to see covered in our Online Community discussion forums. For example, last week, we received a request to include a topic about mature children of elderly parents, with ideas on improving the quality of their relationship in spite of the condition.

Now that we have improved our posting procedure, we hope you will add your input this week.

We look forward to seeing what you have to say about loving someone with depression, bipolar disorder, or a dual diagnosis of depression and alcohol or drug addiction. Thank you!

Stacey

Thank you for joining our online community!

2007-09-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

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

Subscribe to our Feed

2007-09-06T08:37:00.001-07:00

Be sure to come back soon for more information on this exiting new project. To stay informed, please subscribe to our RSS feed (below).

Privacy Policy

2007-09-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

We will keep your email address confidential and will not sell your email address to other organizations.

Demographic information (zip code, gender, etc.) that you provide will only be used to help us understand who are visitors are so we can best reach people to raise awareness of depression in an effective manner. This information will only be analyzed in aggregate and will not be shared with other organizations.

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, please contact us at info@familyaware.org

Disclaimer

2007-09-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

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.