[Is the Internet of any help for persons with serious mental disorders?]

Information and communication technology may represent unique opportunities as well as challenges for persons who are socially isolated due to serious mental disorders.

In order to explore how such persons use and experience Internet technology, a pilot project was conducted in collaboration with eight subjects. These accepted a PC with Internet access in their homes for a period of one year. The experiences reported are based on self-reports, and observations made by clinical and project personnel.

Three of the eight subjects reported little or no use of the Internet. For the five active users, Internet opened up for social contact and support without provoking the same degree of social anxiety as face-to-face interaction. Four of the five subjects wish to use e-mail contact as a supplement to face-to-face contact with their therapist.

Internet can represent a lifeline to society for persons isolated due to mental disorders. Electronic based interaction between patients and health care professionals will provide unique opportunities as well as challenges in efforts towards improving the quality of and access to health care services.