Basic Tips on Finding Good Mental Health Information on the Internet

The internet has become a 24-hour health library with millions of websites and articles one can access freely. With the click of a button on our computer, a smartphone, or a tablet, we can access thousands of serious, less rigorous, fake, or misleading articles. 

Many people choose to learn through forums and opinion sites about health-related issues. Some even come to self-diagnose and self-medicate based on what they read on the internet, and this causes a high risk to people's health, as they could: 

• Confuse their illness with another 
• Think they have a serious health problem, when in fact they do not. 
• Wrongly self-medicate
• Create an obsession with information consultation, creating hypochondria disorders. 

For that reason, it is necessary to look for quality criteria that will direct the user to content that they can trust on the websites they are accessing. Here are some basic tips on how to find good mental health information online:

• Authors of the text and a summary of their resume. A trusted website is not anonymous. Creators are clearly and visibly mentioned in an 'About' or 'Who we are' section, where all the information about who the authors are, who publishes articles, what their expertise is, where they work, etc is displayed. 
• Date of publication and modification of information. Information on the Internet also expires, especially information related to medical protocols. If we know the date of publication or update of the information, we know that we are accessing reliable content 
• Sources, references, bibliographies, links... We should not rely on a website solely because of the quality of its writing, the use of a technical language or its good images. By referring to a particular source or by including a link, we can check whether the data provided is real. If this does not appear, no matter how professional the author is, we should interpret the information as an opinion piece. 

• It should not offer or promise spectacular results. There are no miracle recipes.

• Health information must be clearly differentiated from any advertising content. 

• It must include a simple contact form (form, email) to contact the author.

• Legal requirements. There is certain information about data protection, legal notice, conditions of use, advertising policy, protection of privacy or code of ethics that must appear somewhere on the website.

• Trust seals. The presence of a trust seal makes note of the author's concern and commitment to providing a quality website. It is not the same to follow forums where anyone explains their case and gives advice without scientific evidence, as it is to be informed in forums, websites or blogs endorsed by prestigious health institutions. 

Despite keeping these tips in mind to distinguish a reliable health information website from a website that is not, critical reading of the information displayed remains necessary. Contrast the information with your professional referred to, before making any decisions about your mental health.