We’ve been working on our mental health initiative for a little bit over a month now, and I think we’re making some great progress! I’d like to take this opportunity to provide some examples and analysis of successful interventions. This is being done for a few reasons: 1) self-reflection of how and why the approaches worked, 2) showing others who are interested how the approaches can be used, and 3) broadening the reach of the mental health initiative across Hive.
Keep in mind that dealing with mental health can be very tricky: it’s essential that we find a balanced approach which minimizes risks and maximizes benefits. In case of doubt, it’s always better to err on the side of caution. This is why we must always be willing to learn.
Additionally, you’ll see how the mental health initiative’s use via threadcasts has led to some successes just in the first month! We’ll elicit feedback and look forward into the future for how we can keep polishing and expanding this initiative.
Examples of the Mental Health Initiative in Action!
Source: @gardenofcarmen/re-leothreads-ks4v3ood
What can we learn from this interaction?
The key point here is to acknowledge the problems as real and something that’s worth addressing. We’re not dismissing or downplaying the person’s feelings or situation.
Although I’ve said that it’s not necessarily our job to give advice, in certain cases, the advice can be broad enough that it spurs action in the person whom we’re addressing. In this case, I’m not giving advice that’s very specific to the situation – rather, I’m encouraging the individual to reflect on their situation so that they can gain a broader perspective. Even before the phase of reflection kicks in, I advise to give it a little bit of time, because in the heat of the moment our perspective can be altered by heightened emotions.
Collectively, this approach respects the individual’s problems, and empowers them by placing the onus of action on them. All I did in this case was provide a little bit of direction while they may be feeling all over the place. Whatever decisions they make or whatever they may subsequently do, they’ll be able to do with a clearer state of mind.
Thanks for allowing me to share this, @gardenofcarmen!
Source: @jauregui98/re-leothreads-xkbpatwf
What can we learn from this interaction?
Here, we once again see a situation where a situation has brought on panic in an individual. Rather than being dismissive or immediately offering solutions to a problem that we don’t understand, we can initiate a line of help simply by responding and inquiring, without any judgment.
Simply reaching out and asking – showing interest and listening – is often enough to make someone know that they are not alone. This opens an opportunity for them to spill their guts about whatever is going on. Sometimes, this opportunity alone can solve the immediate problem and give them time to take control of their emotions and think through their problem.
Another key point here, and in the prior example, is obtaining consent for broadcasting their cases as examples. Even though this is a public blockchain, and as anonymous as you’d like for it to be, sometimes in a difficult moment people may post something that they may regret posting. With a blockchain, the original version is permanently stored, even if it’s deleted on a frontend. Hence, it’s important to ask if such a moment is something that a person would be ok with broadcasting publicly.
In the future, I foresee an option to have such discussions on a frontend where we may have the option for them to be broadcast publicly vs. being kept private and not visible, even indecipherable on the blockchain. This would be a significant innovation which would allow many use cases to blossom. On Hive, where each of these transactions is free and takes mere seconds, this could be absolutely tremendous.
Thanks for allowing me to share this, @jauregui98!
Mental Health Initiative Activity via Threadcasts
I’ll also post the following as examples of some days when we’ve been busier than average – and have successfully managed to levy a response as a group. I attribute this partly to the formatting of Threadcasts, where we are able to organize our efforts in a clear timeline, the active participation of individuals, and our collective communication.
@freecompliments/re-leothreads-2hmp2jgwy
@freecompliments/re-leothreads-2f7xnxtw1
@freecompliments/re-leothreads-uhqigvjb
Here’s an example where a post on the Threadcast helped me connect with an individual who requires long-term medical assistance. We’re going to keep in touch to see what can be arranged, but this is all thanks to @luchyl’s find (you can find her reply near the bottom, and then see my response within the post):
@freecompliments/re-leothreads-2m7keckt
Here’s an example of where a post described the direct impact that the group initiative had on the individual (he was not aware that we were working together, which is ok!):
Check out @ckole’s first reply in the threadcast and the replies of our group within the original post: @freecompliments/re-leothreads-29bu5wflb
Followed by the post written a few days later that espoused the impact of so many people coming to help: @ameh19/refreshed-and-cool
At this point, I can already say that by helping one person to such a degree, we’ve succeeded in our goal. Our use case has been fully realized. Being able to change one person’s world, even for a short period of time, is a gift that reverberates through time.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we’re done – on the contrary, this just gives us reason to keep learning and to keep building. We can increase our reach and our impact and help realize the full potential of this initiative. Let’s keep it going.
Upcoming Plans
I’ll continue posting examples of successful interventions when the opportunities arise so that we can continue learning how to approach individuals in the least harmful, most beneficial way possible.
Additionally, in a plan that I’ve had on the back burner for a long time, I’m going to create an account specifically for the mental health initiative. I’ll have a post up shortly after the account is opened in order to announce it.
We’ll have the mental health ambassadors collectively use this account to organize threads and posts where we’ve taken action, and even keep files on individuals so that we can provide follow-ups. After all, it’s rather amateurish to do single hit-and-runs: it’s essential to monitor progress and ensure that individuals are actually doing better!
Feedback for Improvement
The user interface and accession of certain links/threads may be difficult for some users who are not yet used to it, which is a limitation that must be considered, particularly for fellow mental health ambassadors. I’d like to ensure that our wonderful InLeo leader @khaleelkazi is aware that this has sometimes been a limiting factor, and I do encourage my team to post feedback so the interface can be improved.
Additionally, when scheduled threadcasts go live, I think it would be useful to have a little green dot (or something similar) to show that a threadcast is still live. Certain threadcasts are intended to be an hour long, others 2 hours, others multiple hours… this particular one is meant to last 24 hours. I think this would be a highly useful feature.
I’d also like to hear the opinions of other people as how you think we can keep improving the initiative on our end. For an initiative that’s based purely on human interaction, we appreciate all human interaction that will help us improve it!
Mental Health Ambassador Positions
As I’ve once said (paraphrasing myself!)… I’d rather have 365 days per year with zero need for this initiative, but we must always be ready to tackle the busy days. This idea will become more prominent as we increase our userbase.
Therefore, we’re always going to keep the position of the mental health ambassador open. It currently pays 5 HSBI per month if you’re working 1 day per week, 10 HSBI per month for 2 days per week, etc. The details are within the aforementioned post, plus posting your findings in the daily threadcast. Finally, there will be some involvement of the upcoming mental health initiative account which I’ll create very soon.
As the responsibility of the MHA position increases, I do expect that I’ll end up raising the associated pay. I like to think I’m fair about these things, haha.
Conclusion
The mental health initiative, while in its infancy on Hive, is already starting to make strides and an impact on some users. However, there’s a lot of work left to do to make this an initiative that can be safely implemented on a larger scale. Let’s keep on learning and keep on building, and let’s make this world a better place.
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