Social Networking Sites: An Adjunctive Treatment Modality for Psychological Problems

BACKGROUND: Social networking is seen as a way to enhance social support and feeling of well-being. The present work explores the potentials of social networking sites as an adjunctive treatment modality for initiating treatment contact as well as for managing psychological problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Interview schedule, Facebook intensity questionnaire were administered on 28 subjects with a combination of 18 males and 10 females. They were taken from the in-patient and out-patient psychiatry setting of the hospital. RESULTS: Facebook was the most popular sites and used to seek emotional support on the basis of the frequent updates of emotional content that users put in their profile; reconciliations, escape from the problems or to manage the loneliness; getting information about illness and its treatment and interaction with experts and also manifested as problematic use. CONCLUSIONS: It has implications for developing social networking based adjunctive treatment modality for psychological problems.