Black Dog Tribe founder Ruby Wax (Credit: Comic Relief)
Black Dog Tribe, a social networking site aimed at people with depression and similar conditions has been making waves over the past month, with hundreds of users signing up to the site to share their thoughts and feelings with like-minded people. The website is the brainchild of comedian Ruby Wax and internet entrepreneur Nina Storm and is intended to provide a forum for people to meet with their ‘tribe’ for help, advice and friendship from people with similar experiences to their own.
Black Dog Tribe is still very much in its early stages – the site is still in beta mode, but it is expected to launch officially this month. However, after the site received attention in the Guardian and the Daily Express, along with positive attention from mental health charities, it has been liked by more than 3,000 people on Facebook and the official Twitter account has around 1,000 followers. It certainly seems to have struck a chord, helped in no small part by the enthusiastic backing of Wax.
In recent months and years, Ruby Wax has been re-inventing herself as the self-proclaimed “poster girl for mental illness.” Four years ago she was institutionalized after she had what she calls “the tsunami of all depressions.” Since her recovery, she has taken part in the live shows “Live from the Priory” and “Losing it,” offering a bitter-sweet retrospective on her own experiences. Black Dog Tribe is Wax’s latest effort to encourage conversation and end stigma surrounding depression.
Sound Mind, Sound Media was keen to learn more and joined the site. There are still a few issues to iron out, mainly to make navigation smoother and create links with other social networks. However, Black Dog Tribe is already well on its way to creating a strong, proactive community. The site currently consists of seven main tribes:
- Like Minds – For people with depression to meet others with similar experiences
- What Helps – For advice and discussion on treatments such as antidepressants and therapies
- Help for the helper – Discussion and advice for care-givers, friends and family
- Stigma – For those wishing to talk about discrimination they may have received
- Be Creative – For members to show off their creations and ideas
- Shame and Blame – Discussions of feelings of shaming and blaming that come with depression
- Recovery- For those on the road to overcoming their problems
Each tribe is split into a series of subsections and posts from members, who can choose to remain anonymous, looking to discuss what they are experiencing in relation to the current situation they are in. So far the forums are producing a number of different perspectives on a multitude of experiences, and this bank of knowledge can only widen as the site grows.
In addition to the forums, the site also lists information on illnesses and treatment, along with contact details for mental health charities and a list of events they are due to hold. This information covers a range of mental illnesses beyond depression, and is likely to grow as more content is added to the site.
Also available are video discussions from people from particular tribes, along with a series of talks from experts including Camila Batmanghelidjh and Professor Lewis Wolpert on their own experiences with mental illness.
In general, Black Dog Tribe is demonstrating a great deal of potential to become an integral part of the mental health conversation. The tribes and their forums are already looking like well-established communities and the video and information content will surely grow in to a valuable resource as the website expands. Sound Mind, Sound Media would recommend it to anyone who feels they could benefit from a place to talk openly about mental illness.
