Online service for mental health help
Mental Healthy would like to introduce you to a service we believe to be most valuable. If you haven't heard about it already Big White Wall is helping thousands of people dealing with mental illness, and here is how: 
bigwhitewall.com (BWW) is a digital mental health and wellbeing service that has been designated a High Impact Innovation by the NHS. It places people at the centre of their own care and delivers personalised pathways to recovery through a range of safe therapeutic services from the comfort of their own homes. It’s safe, anonymous and available 24/7.
BWW currently covers 22% of the UK population and is also free to all members of the Armed Forces community: Veterans, Serving Personnel and their families.
BWW is an online community. Amongst its services, members can talk anonymously to others who may have similar experiences, get brief counseling support (Wall Guides) or take part in self-managed and facilitated programmes for individuals and groups. Programmes include anxiety, depression, sleep, smoking and alcohol use. Members can also express how they feel, by making ‘bricks’, a form of creative self-expression.
There’s also a wealth of information and tests, which members can access at any time to help them understand more about issues they may be experiencing, and how they can take steps towards feeling better.
This combined with peer and professional support leads to 95% of members reporting improved wellbeing and 73% sharing an issue for the first time.
Who benefits from using Big White Wall?
- The 50% who never go to a GP for fear of stigma
- 1 in 3 who visit a GP for conditions that are not physical or with medically unexplained symptoms
- People who want choice over when and how to manage psychological distress
- People who are isolated and vulnerable through mental illness and their family/friends
- Those on waiting lists for psychological therapies or who want complementary out of hours support
Benefits of becoming a member of Big White Wall
- Immediate access to a choice of therapies that suits individuals needs
- Safe, anonymous environment
- Fear of stigma removed, 73% talk about an issue for the first time on BWW
- Access to online help and support 24/7
Comments from users of Big White Wall include:
“I have found Big White Wall life transforming. I believe that it has saved me from self-harming and decreased my sense of isolation about issues I find difficult to share with others.”
“I find people very caring and they don’t judge you, they actually listen to you. That was all that I was looking for …someone to listen to what I want to say.”
Member’s brick
BWW’s Services – brief overview
i) Digital Assessment: Online tool to assess common mental health problems and co-morbid physical conditions, due to launch in Beta late 2013.
ii) SupportNetwork: A community of peers, professionally staffed 24/7, which enables safe, anonymous support through talking therapies and creative self-expression.
iii) GuidedSupport: A range of self-managed and facilitated programmes for individuals and groups. Programmes include anxiety, depression, sleep, smoking and alcohol use.
iv) LiveTherapy: A range of real time therapies by instant text, audio or video from a panel of approved BWW therapists offering CBT, IPT, person-centered counseling and integrative counseling.
