Happy 15th Birthday, Psych Central

So this is it folks — 15 years of providing mental health information and resources online. Can you believe it!?? This was pre-Google. Pre-WebMD. Even before the NIMH. The web was brand new and I thought it might be helpful to move my reviews of great online resources onto the web (these indexes I had been doing since 1992 online).

What better place than to put all of this information in one place, on a website? And symptom lists of common mental disorders would be helpful to people too, since folks were always asking, “Are these symptoms of depression?” “What are the symptoms of bipolar disorder?” and so on.

Just for fun, here’s what that first version of Psych Central looked like…

Thanks to Our Community Members

Our success is due in part to having a thriving, safe and reliable support community made up of thousands of active members who are there to support and help one another. You’ve chosen to make Psych Central your home, and for that I am eternally appreciative. Especially our most senior members who’ve spent years here — first getting help, and now giving it freely to so many others who find us.

We couldn’t keep our site a safe and supportive place without the efforts of dozens of volunteers over the years. In both our main Psych Central Community and in our neurological support community, NeuroTalk, we rely on dozens of members to volunteer their time in our community support teams, welcome teams, and chat leaders to keep our community a positive place to visit. With over 127,800 members, 160 support groups , and 2 million posts in both communities combined, we host one of the largest and most vibrant self-help communities online today.

Thanks to Our Staff and Bloggers

We also wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for the dedication of dozens of additional individuals — professionals and consumers alike — who write, edit, and help keep this place humming smoothly. We have a great group of individuals who blog for us in a constantly growing network of bloggers. And we have a fantastic group of editorial staff, including our Ask the Therapists professionals. They all make what we do every day possible.

Thanks to You

We’re visited by over 1.2 million people each month from around the world — over 120 countries. We’ve been mentioned in countless publications and in 2008 we were named one of the 50 Best Websites online by TIME.com.

All because of you — our readers. People who visit us just once, and people who visit us every week or every day. We appreciate you and your trust in us. We’re working hard to maintain it and ensure we continue to provide the Internet’s best source for independent, unbiased mental health and psychology information — directly from mental health professionals and others who understand what it’s like to live with a mental health concern.

We’ve had a great 15 years, and we look forward to serving you for many more years to come. I love doing this and can’t ever imagine doing anything else. Happy Birthday Psych Central!!