Chiming in a bit late on this...
Not a mental health professional, but a psychologist and somewhat familiar with the literature (not hard to do, since there is not much). Most of it has focused on breast cancer patients so far. The bottom line in that research is that there is little effect positive or negative to these groups, but that anecdotally participants feel better, especially if otherwise isolated and/or heavy participants.

BUT my hunch is that each condition, or reason for needing support, is going to be different. For example, there was an article in Pediatrics that talked about eating disorder patients and one of the findings was that even pro-recovery sites gave patients ideas on how to diet and purge. So it is possible a support group could do the same thing -- unintentionally make things worse. Anne, you mention this concern in your original post.

So, would an addiction site provide triggers? Or would it be like an AA/NA meeting? The jury is still out.

WRT your Q about whether "responsible sites should employee healthcare professionals" -- hard to say, as then one could argue that ALL sites (like, teen chat rooms/message boards) should do the same. Any place a person discusses problems, there is risk of hearing about a serious issue that might need follow-up.

Hope that helps a bit...Time for more coffee.

--
L. Kris Gowen, PhD, EdM
www.myspace.com/virtualmysterytour

If there's anyone in mental health care visiting this forum, I'd be interested in your reaction to the idea that online community can help people suffering from depression and/or anxiety. The company that hosts DepressionTribe.org, AnxietyTribe.com, and AddictionTribe.com sponsored a survey that found....

"Bloggers on mental health sites feel more comfortable discussing their conditions online than with professional therapists.... In the survey, conducted in April, members [of the above sites] were asked, 'Where do you feel most comfortable expressing your issues?' 68% said 'an online community'; 23% said 'my therapist'; 9% said 'family and friends'."

I'd love to get the reaction of a professional in this field who has a chance to look at these sites (or anyone's reax, but let us know if you're involved in the mental health care field). I guess one of my Qs is, would the users of disorder-oriented sites would benefit from close (but anonymous) monitoring by healthcare professionals - whether responsible sites should employee healthcare professionals. The Q underlying that is whether the support site could be harmful or therapeutic, depending on the individual - or if too much support from fellow sufferers could possibly lead to reinforcement (worsening) of a condition. Thanks!
Anne
-- Edited by Anne at 06/07/2007 2:58 PM