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Finding mental-health help online

By MARA GORDON
UPI Correspondent

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- When a woman whose online alias is LonelyLittleGl struggled last month with her craving for alcohol, she turned to her online journal for support. The twentysomething Californian posts frequently in her blog about her battles with depression, loneliness and alcohol abuse.

"I was going for at least one night of not drinking, but it didn't happen," she wrote on RealMentalHealth.com, a networking Web site for people suffering from mental illnesses where she blogs several times weekly. "I gave up and went for the bottle as soon as things got boring."

The site, launched by entrepreneur Martin Ogawa, bills itself as the first online social network for people with mental illnesses. What sets it apart from other free blogging tools, its editors say, is that it is filled with like-minded users who are looking for -- and looking to give -- support and information.

Only hours after LonelyLittleGl posted about giving in to alcohol, online friends responded with messages of well-intentioned support.

One who calls herself Izzycat wrote: "At least drinking is legal and not as bad as ... meth or crack."

Izzycat's response, hardly that of a doctor or counselor, is typical of online support sites like RealMentalHealth.com. And as more services pop up, many doctors warn that they can provide the illusion of authority -- without sound medical advice.

While it is difficult to measure the number of sites like RealMentalHealth.com, experts who study the phenomenon of online support groups say more and more people are turning to the Internet for medical information.

One 2002 article in the American Journal of Psychiatry said 33 million Americans use the Internet as a health resource. Doing so, experts say, can have both risks and benefits.

"When people get on the Internet, there's a disinhibiting effect," said University of California at Davis psychiatrist Don Hilty, who has studied psychiatry telecommunications. "People want an answer and they want it fast. Unless you're pretty savvy at some of this, it can be really dangerous."

RealMentalHealth.com has health resources managed by a team of editors, but its blogs and message boards are not moderated. Similar sites for mental health support range from user-created groups on Yahoo to those officially run by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Giving those suffering from depression and other mental illnesses online refuge from waiting rooms and doctors' offices can have its benefits, however.

One user, who suffers from depression, said she feels more comfortable discussing her condition on RealMentalHealth.com because her online friends offer her unconditional support her physicians could not.

"You're feeling like your world is ending, and you're going to a perfect stranger, saying, 'You need to fix me because something inside of me is broken,'" she said. "It seems to me like they're more interested in giving you a prescription and shoving you out the door."

And some doctors actually do agree that such in-person services increasingly lack the personal touch.

"They're not getting enough of their doctor, and that's an unfortunate trend in medicine," said Marc Jacobs, director of the psychiatry residency training program at the University of California, San Francisco. "People are being seen for ever-briefer periods of time, and they want to talk to someone."

Stanford University psychiatrist Keith Humphreys, who has researched online support groups for chronic illnesses and substance abuse, says they can be helpful for people in rural areas or for whom visits to psychiatrists are not covered by insurance. The anonymity offered by the Internet can help users open up about their personal struggles.

And especially for those suffering from depression, finding a social network -- even online -- can help them fight it.

"People who participate in this have higher levels of social support," said Brooklyn College professor Joshua Fogel, who studies the psychology of the Internet. "If you have somebody to share with, you're not as lonely anymore."

Amarillo BioSciences testing cough drug

AMARILLO, Texas, July 7 (UPI) -- Amarillo Biosciences said Friday it has filed for approval to test its oral interferon to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

The company said it hopes to launch a study of an oral formulation of interferon alpha in 60 patients with the condition at about six U.S. sites. Amarillo said the study patients will get interferon or placebo for four weeks to assess the drug's effect in treating chronic cough.

As many as 90 percent of IPF patients have a chronic cough that impacts their quality of life, Amarillo said.

The firm said it previously completed a pilot study of the treatment in roughly six patients that showed the drug significantly reduced chronic cough.

Amarillo said it is also testing oral interferon alpha to treat influenza in chickens.