Online Peer Support Group

Social media can have an encouraging, positive influence on young people’s mental health during their middle childhood. As acknowledged before, children can gain peer support through recognized groups on social media which in turn can support their mental health. This is an extremely effective way of improving mental health in young people. Studies have shown peer support in severe mental illness (SMI) includes a system of mutual giving and receiving where individuals who have faced and endured the adversity of mental illness can offer hope, companionship, and encouragement to others facing similar conditions (Naslund, Grande, Aschbrenner & Elwyn, 2014, P1-2). Online peer support can invoke feelings of group belonging by encouraging children to interact with peers online. By sharing their personal stories and strategies for coping with day to day challenges of living with a mental illness, a social collectiveness is created (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch & Bartels, 2016, P115).  For those more private individuals, this is a great way to gain support as it allows children to express their feeling to others, whilst combating social isolation. People in these groups come together as a family to share support and to encourage each other, thus preventing children from hiding their worries and concerns.

N.d. (2019). Step Up Peer Support. [Digital image].

  Moreover, even for those children who are willing to access professional medical care with their parents, online peer support can be an excellent resource. This encourages children to make their own decisions and to have improved communication with their health care provider, through peer suggestions and advice. In fact, learning from peers through online networks may help individuals with serious mental illness realise that they can make their own health care decisions, empowering them to be better prepared for medical visits and by being more proactive and assertive in their communication with health care providers (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch & Bartels, 2016, P117). Finally, on considering the research question, social media unmistakably has a positive influence on children's mental health and wellbeing, particularly during middle childhood.