The Mental Health Foundation site is very accessible and useful, writes Bob Sapey, lecturer in applied social science, Lancaster University. I often recommend it to students who are seeking to learn about specific mental illnesses, as the information provided tends to accept that there are different perspectives on mental health problems. There is quite a wide range of online information, including booklets and fact sheets, as well as reports on current issues that the foundation is concerned with. One of the most interesting ways of accessing this site is to go to the "What's New" section.
Nigel Turner's guide to the Mental Health Act 1983 has been around for years now and remains very usable, perhaps a testament to the value of plain HTML. While other sites have developed their Java and Flash routines, Turner continues to provide an accessible online version of the act and very detailed information about the reviews of this legislation. It is a pity for approved social workers that they cannot easily carry it with them at work.
I was going to review a Pro-anna site to show how alternative views make use of the internet. These sites were written by people with anorexia to help others to diet and be anorexic, but they appear to have been removed by service providers, presumably because they were considered dangerous. This site also provides an alternative to the medical perspective, with a very witty imitation of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders approach to mental health. As Rufus May, clinical psychologist and ex-psychiatric patient, once said in a radio interview: "When are we going to pathologise love - is that going to become obsessive affection disorder?"
