In 1990, I started my first year in graduate school in Florida and just months after moving, I discovered the tragic news -- my childhood best friend, Robby, someone I had been close to since I was only 3 years old -- had committed suicide. I was devastated. So was his entire family, especially his mom.

After coming home to Delaware to attend the funeral, I found myself lost in grief and depression. The loss seemed so senseless. He had suffocated himself in a field in the Pennsylvania Dutch country outside of his college over a serious relationship that had gone badly.

Like almost anyone who's ever lost someone to suicide, I thought to myself, "If only I was here... I could've prevented this tragic and unnecessary death. We were best friends... I would've known."

I traveled back to Florida and continued my psychology studies, and learned how common suicide was, especially amongst teens and young adults such as my friend. I was resolved to change how people learn about mental health issues such as suicide and depression, and find a way to reduce the stigma associated with these disorders.

In 1991, I took my first and only course about the Internet. While I had run bulletin board systems in high school and college, and was on Compuserve and Prodigy, this was my first exposure to the raw Internet. And raw it was -- unadulterated and difficult-to-find content and resources. The web was still years away from becoming popularized, so most communication was done on email lists and Usenet newsgroups.

It was in 1991 that I found alt.support.depression, a self-help support group for people suffering from depression. And then I knew -- this was it. This was how people could help themselves and learn more about mental health concerns such as suicide and depression. The Internet.

And so my own personal journey dedicated to helping reduce the stigma associated with mental health concerns and reach out to those who were in emotional need began. I started indexing the online support groups I could find in 1991 (dozens), and published the index to the Internet. I maintained the list for 4 years, and then transferred it to the Web. These original efforts were the foundation for Psych Central.

So I've been publishing helpful information and resources online since 1991 to try and prevent more tragedies like the one Robby's family suffered (his mother died 2 years later from a broken heart -- yes, I really believe that).

I have been doing this now for over 17 years and growing Psych Central organically, through word-of-mouth, and hard work. We have touched the lives of over 42 million people who have visited our site since it was first published on the Web in 1995, and we continue to reach over 600,000 people each and every month.

Every week, we receive emails from people who's lives we have influenced and, in some cases, saved. This is the mission and heart of what we do here at Psych Central. And this is why we come to work each and every day.

Thank you for finding us. And thank you for helping to spread the word and reduce the stigma associated with mental health concerns.

If you'd like, you're welcomed to view a short, 3-minute music photo slideshow that illustrates some fond moments of my life with Robby.

Last reviewed:
  On 13 May 2008
  By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.