Your Health And Technology

      As technology becomes more and more aggressive to change, the common man’s reliance on the internet has become as natural as breathing. Basic commodities from food, clothes, medication, therapies and what-have-you’s can now be purchased on the internet.

     Time was when therapies are being done in clinics where the doctor and the patient see each other in the flesh. But as therapy procedures embrace innovations of the internet, the two parties are able to carry out the proceedings through the website.

      In a situation wherein one is facing mental problems and isn’t too proud about seeing a psychologist personally, this set-up would be very ideal. One needs to just browse through the internet, go to a psychologist website and -- voila! But, the question is: how does one know if this kind of set-up is really treated with confidentiality? Is one’s anonymity really guaranteed?

      Therapy through the internet may be advantageous if the issue of anonymity is considered, but it has also its drawbacks. Despite the sophistication of this technology, we are still far from a perfect world. Online therapy may offer convenience, affordability and accessibility, but in cases of dire situation, one’s therapist may not respond as immediately as needed. Confidentiality may also be put at risk due to unreliable technology. There is likewise the lurking possibility of your therapists’ website being hacked, through which your data could be extracted from the website and be exposed to the public.

     Therapy websites without doubt help people to know more about psychological health; and therapists could treat any client from across the world [although in the US, each state has different treatment procedure and license requirements] but one should consider that in most cases, therapy sites do not show the patients’ body language or facial expression [in some cases].  In addition, online therapy does not cater to patients with serious and complicated mental health problems, thus limiting the scope of online therapy compared to the therapy done in clinics. This is reason enough to for many therapists to prefer doing therapy up close and personal inside the clinic. Should the patient prefer the online therapy however, caution should be observed at all times even when a lot of therapy websites promise security and privacy.

     Technology may bring great benefits to a lot of things, but one must ascertain not to disregard one’s common sense over crucial things affecting his well-being even as he embraces the world’s fast-paced technological breakthroughs.

From Conventional To Alternative Therapy And Vice Versa

     Therapy websites swarming all over the internet are fast encouraging people to shift from conventional therapy to alternative medicine.

     Despite huge claims of less or even zero efficacy of alternative therapy, there is still a widespread of preference over alternative therapy preference.

     Notwithstanding the fact that therapy sites are being bashed as hoax, a lot of people still choose to switch from the mainstream medical procedures to alternative therapy. Upon diagnosis of terminal illnesses that even the best medicine could no longer cure, patients resort to alternative medications. They choose to let go of their faith in modern medical technologies, and deem these less effective while getting more and more costly as them come. For instance, there has surfaced a perception that antibiotics nowadays have dulled their efficacy against bacteria. This is further indicated by the common use of antibiotics -- and regular medicines including -- that can be bought from over-the-counter sans doctor’s prescription.

     As such, if we are to strongly consider opting for alternative therapy instead, how do we choose which among the hundreds of these therapies would serve us best? Browsing the internet high and low would yield a lot of answers. All these therapy websites that promote alternative medicine would promise even miraculous cure, vouched by loads of testimonials from patients who have experienced such.

     Regardless of the “No approved therapeutic claims” slogan, a lot still claim to have been cured of their illnesses through alternative medicine or therapy. Medical practitioners however continue to contradict this, on the belief that these claims are plainly placebo effect. Placebo effect [which is also called placebo response] is a remarkable phenomenon in which a placebo -- a fake treatment, an inactive substance like sugar, distilled water, or saline solution -- can sometimes improve a patient's condition simply because the person has the expectation that it will be helpful. The more a person believes they are going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that they will experience a benefit [medterms.com]. This being the case, although doctors strictly confine their medical practice based on science, it is widely noted that as time goes by, they have become to be more open in recommending alternative medicines/therapy to their patients if in case their current treatment does not show any progress.

      Be it through conventional or alternative therapy, the patient seeking medical attention holds the right to choose as to which procedure would take him or her to recovery and permanent wellness.

Website and Social Media: The Coffee and Cream Duo

       The breakthrough of technology has taken the world in a sweeping embrace. Not one soul of the new generation does not have an affair with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. The full-blown influence of social media has seduced companies the globe over to join the social media umbrella. From simple online shops, multi-million companies including the medical community use social media in reaching out to their respective clientele.

       From the commonplace contents, graphics and elements, evolving websites have become more playful thus more appealing to the audience. A psychologist website may consist of several medical terms foreign to the man on the street. There is also chance for therapist website designs to be oh-so-boring because it is packed with technical terms and bland elements. Over time however, these therapy websites have come to learn the ropes to dressing themselves with sugar and cream so to speak. In place of more technical terms, common words are used without sacrificing creativity. From drab basic colors, therapy websites pepper their web designs with gradients and hues that are friendly to the eyes.

       Nevertheless, the extra-mile efforts to powder the websites pretty certainly end up in the waste bin if netizens are more attracted to social networking sites. Fortunately, it is universally understood that websites remain the smartest channel in promoting businesses since it is the company’s personal identification on the internet. Creating company pages on Facebook may announce the business whereabouts, but there lie several restrictions in customizing tabs and cover photos. On the contrary, websites can be fully customized from header, footer, content, down to the littlest detail.

       Websites and social media basically go together. Websites actually need social media power for marketing strategies. Google has started including social profiles on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), enabling the searcher to access the website just by typing its name, and find out if it has a Twitter account, for example, as everything appears on the results page. This is not only true for Google, but for other major search engines as well.

       Social media was made mainly to serve as a communication channel and is now widely used as a medium to promote one’s website. The large influence of social media prompted websites to integrate social sharing buttons [social media plug-ins] instead. These were added to their websites for better users output. According to the Philadelphia based marketing company Monetate, about 40 – 60% of customers or consumers prefer social login from Facebook or Twitter instead of Guest Login accounts. This could be attributed to the circumstance that social media plug-ins are easier to identify and remember.