Since my subject is mental health issues, I have
focused on websites regarding health issues and their authenticity on the WORLD
WIDE WEB, mainly focusing on depression. Going through the cures for depression
on the web, an interesting kind of cure for depression caught my attention and
like I mentioned before, the whole article fascinated me until I found out it
had no credible sources. The link for the website is: http://www.affirmations-for-radical-success.com/depression-crushers.html
Following is a screen shots of the website:
Health Information credibility checks are as following:
- Whenever we look at a website, we should check author of the article. Is the author a specialized person in the field of study? Is his/her qualification enough to support the study? Going through the website mentioned above there was no credible author to support this new treatment for depression. Because this we can believe that the article lacks credibility.
- The website also tells us that Depression Crushers is a new scientific invention which reprograms the brain and is not expensive at all. Before believing in an article we should always ask ourselves, what evidence is provided to support the new invention. Is it all over the News and Internet? We should not just believe in one website making a claim of this new evidence. Before we believe in something, it is in our best interest to find evidence about any new invention and read it through a trust worthy website.
- When searching for reliable information if we assume that we found a reliable author, the next thing is we should make sure about the source of the article. Based on my knowledge from Ms.Diana Bedoya a well-known Professor in Kinesiology department in Simon Fraser University, credible websites are sites which end in an .org, .edu, ca, or .gov. Usually articles ending with .com or .net lack credibility. We should make sure that the article we are reading is from a good, reliable source for example: : http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/depression-eng.php#rd
As we can see from the screen shot above, this website
is a credible source as it is provided by Health Canada. This website is
sponsored by the Canadian Government and it provides reliable information with
proper sources and referencing. The Canadian Government will by no means
provide false information at the risk of losing its credibility. It will
provide no flawed information to break the trust and harm its own citizens.
- Websites with no author, no proper sourcing and not enough evidence to support their claim often have market campaigns on their page. I believe that unreliable sources often try to fool their readers to buy products which are not useful as in the example of the website we can see that it is trying to sell so called AFRS depression crushers. They claim that this will help eliminate depression and will bring positivity in life. They try to fool readers into amazing offers like ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘money back if no results’. These claims made by websites usually convince readers to try the products which at the end has no results. So we can conclude from it that unreliable websites can also make us waste our money on products with no benefits.
- There is no magic product which will help us fight our illness in a day or two. Usually websites with lack of credibility make claims about magic products. As the above website tells us that the AFRS depression crusher is an mp3 audio file which can make improvements in your life within 10 minutes of using it.In my knowledge, the cure of depression is a process which takes time. Also, according to the Health Canada they tell their readers to see a doctor and take proper medication for the illness.
As we can see from the
above screen shot that the proper
way to deal with depression is successful Psychological counseling, therapy or
prescribed medicine. Health Canada provides the proper protocol to deal with
depression and in case of emergency they have contact information of health
professionals for patients. A credible source will never
mislead its visitor to a “magic product” rather provide the right protocol to
deal with the illness. For instance, there are several therapeutic treatments
available for depressions which are referred as psychotherapy where a patient
can go for Psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy, Cognitive behavioral
therapy or in extreme cases Psychiatric drug therapy.
I really hope that my
findings helped enlighten those of you who were unaware. Cheers!
References:
Hales, D., & Lauzon, L. (2007). An Invitation
to health Second Canadian Edition. Toronto: Nelson Education Ltd.
Affirmation of radical success. (2007). Retrieved from
http://www.affirmations-for-radical-success.com/depression-crushers.html
Canada, H. (2009, feburary). Health Canada. Retrieved
from Health Canada:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/depression-eng.php
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