Mexico Therapists Warn: A Facebook Status Update Is Not Therapy Jan-Albert Hootsen - Vocativ
go to original August 25, 2014

Mexicans generally shun therapists but pour their hearts out on Facebook.

MEXICO CITY — Anyone regularly connecting to Facebook can see them: status updates of friends, family and acquaintances having a hard time and reaching out for help. As social media increasingly becomes an extension of our lives, platforms such as Facebook have also become a place to pour one’s heart out.

Therapists in Mexico are now warning that using Facebook as a platform to open up poses some inherent risks. The Center of Mental Health and Gender (CSMyG) in Mexico City will launch a campaign in September called “Putting Your Life on Facebook Is Not Psychotherapy.” As the name suggests, it aims to inform Mexicans that Facebook and other social media are not a cheap alternative to sessions with a therapist.

Though the initiative is small, it’s the first of its kind in Mexico. According to the CSMyG, the campaign will collect data through questionnaires and monitor Facebook to learn how users express their feelings, as well detail the differences between sharing emotional troubles online and getting actual treatment.

“We’re not campaigning against Facebook or social media,” says Alejandra Bugs, founder of CSMyG. “We’re trying to clarify that, even though Facebook is a great way to bring people together, there is also the risk that users think they can overcome depression, loss or other problems just by talking about it online.”

Social media is soaring in Mexico, particularly Facebook. Even though less than half of the country’s 118 million inhabitants connect to the Internet on a daily basis, more than 40 million Mexicans have a Facebook account. And they use it voraciously.

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