HeadsUp, Rehab’s mental health promotion project, has unveiled a new online application – Mates’ Moods – that enables people to get a sense of their friends’ moods.
The Mates’ Moods application is available at www.headsup.ie/matesmood php or on HeadsUp’s Facebook page. Friends are presented as little figures with a scale of eight moods, from miserable to awesome. The application also provides a history of friends’ moods over a period of time and comments can be added explaining a particular mood. It can be published to a person’s Facebook wall and friends invited to use the application.
“We are now entering what can be a very stressful, lonely, and individually challenging time for many young people across the country as they embark on their Leaving and Junior Certificate examinations,” said Colette Ryan, project manager for HeadsUp. “By developing Mates’ Moods, we believe we have a communication tool which we feel is creative and supportive and which capitalises on the popularity of social networking sites.
“Mates’ Mood offers an easy, non-intrusive way of checking in on those whom we care about and a possible starting point for conversation on how we feel – a definite benefit for early help-seeking behaviour and stigma reduction.”
HeadsUp is also reminding young people about its HeadsUp text service if they need information and support. This is a free, automated, and confidential service, supported by Meteor, offering details of support services nationwide around a range of issues including sexual health, sexuality, mental health, suicide, drugs, abuse, and crisis. To contact the service simply text Headsup to 50424.
