Big White Wall is a digital mental health support service which is available online, 24/7, and is completely anonymous so you can express yourself freely and openly. Professionally trained Wall Guides monitor the community to ensure the safety and anonymity of all members. In addition to BWW’s online community, you will have access to a wealth of useful information and can work through tailored self-help programs covering topics such as anxiety, sleep, weight management, depression and many more.

Big White Wall offers a range of activities that allow you to work through what's troubling you.

Anyone who is aged 16 and over.

Currently, Big White Wall is only available in English.

Big White Wall is free to access in a number of ways for residents of Ontario. You can access the service using your Ontario postal code when clicking on ‘Join Us’.

The Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) is a not-for-profit organization funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). OTN contracted with us, Big White Wall Limited (BWW Co), to make our on-line peer support community available in Ontario.

Our Privacy Statement explains how we protect your privacy and steps you can take to protect your anonymity and privacy when using BigWhiteWall.ca. Respecting your privacy and protecting your information in an online environment is also a priority for OTN and MOHLTC. OTN and MOHLTC do not have access to your personal information. BWW Co may provide aggregate, anonymous reports or information to OTN, MOHLTC or other parties in Ontario’s health system about BWW’s members and usage. For example, BWW Co may calculate the number of users in each area of Ontario by performing analytics on users’ postal codes. BWW Co will not share your personal information with OTN and MOHLTC.

You can connect with the BWW community wherever and whenever you want from a mobile device simply by visiting our mobile-friendly website at bigwhitewall.ca. NB: Our service requires an internet connection and some features, like our Guided Support courses, should be used on a desktop computer.

For ease of use you may want to create a shortcut to Big White Wall on your mobile device. Please find step by step instructions below.

iPhone, iPad:

Launch the Safari browser on Apple’s iOS and navigate to the website or web page you want to add to your home screen. Tap the Share button on the browser’s toolbar — that’s the rectangle with an arrow pointing upward. It’s on the bar at the top of the screen on an iPad, and on the bar at the bottom of the screen on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Tap the Add to Home Screen icon in the Share menu.

You’ll be prompted to name the shortcut before tapping the Add button. The shortcut can be dragged around and placed anywhere, including in app folders — just like a normal app icon.

Android:

Launch Chrome for Android and open the website or web page you want to pin to your home screen. Tap the menu button and tap Add to homescreen. You’ll be able to enter a name for the shortcut and then Chrome will add it to your home screen.

The icon will appear on your home screen like any other app shortcut or widget, so you can drag it around and put it wherever you like. Chrome for Android loads the website as a “web app” when you tap the icon, so it will get its own entry in the app switcher and won’t have any browser interface getting in the way.

Anything that is causing people emotional distress, this can include anxiety, stress, feeling low, depression, feeling out of control and trauma to name a few. All of these may be triggered by life events such as the loss of a loved one, relationship breakdowns, employment related issues, financial crisis, sexuality, isolation, alcohol or drug related problems.

We take abuse on our service very seriously. There is a system of watchwords that signal inappropriate behaviour or language use, which are immediately flagged to a Wall Guide.

Secondly, members can report unwanted behaviour through our simple process. Members can click on the 'Report' button on pages of the website to report abuse of the system, this is then escalated to a team member of BWW.

The BWW Community is the main hub of support as individuals share their stories and experiences, engaging in conversations with other members of the community. Our Wall Guides are trained clinicians whose job is to keep our members safe and help them feel they are not alone. They are required to be proactive in responding to BWW members who are in crisis and provide them with support or seek local assistance.

A key requirement of Wall Guides work is to ensure that anonymity of members is maintained and to report any incidence of posts that may assist to reveal the real identity of a member. This requires that all comments, and all images are monitored to ensure that it conforms to BWW House Rules.

Wall Guides are required to model the behaviour that Big White Wall wants members to adopt within the community. This includes being welcoming of new members, exchanging comments that are non-judgemental and respectful as well as encouraging others to express their troubles and provide assurance of a safe space.

To create an account, simply log onto bigwhitewall.ca and hit ‘Join Us’.

Register using your Ontario postal code.

Big White Wall is anonymous. This allows you the freedom to share honestly and openly. When choosing a username and profile picture (this is the image that will appear with or without your username), make sure that no one will be able to identify you from these. For example, avoid pet names, childhood nicknames or names that you may use on other networks or sites. Why not try the name of your favourite food? Maybe the car you drive, a country you’d like to visit, or how you’re feeling? Take care that there’s nothing included that might be considered a name or address.

Wall Guides may change your username if they feel it may give away your identity. If this happens, you will be notified by an email giving you a link to a private Talkabout with a Wall Guide, where you can ask them to change it to something more memorable.

On joining you are given a default profile picture, a non-identifying image that is assigned to you and often used with your user name.

You can change your profile picture to an image of your choice by uploading an image file or picture from your desktop. To do this, go to My Home Page, and click 'Edit picture', then browse to go to the image you wish to upload from your computer. Alternatively, you can select from several block colours.

Remember that Big White Wall is anonymous and so profile pictures should not identify you in any way.

To access the different sections of Big White Wall, click 'Open Menu' on the top left side of every page.

Search for information

For specific advice or support on a certain issue or topic, type one or more keywords in the search box right at the top of the page. A list of related bricks, Talkabouts, and 'Useful Stuff' articles will appear.

Search 'Useful Stuff'

You can search for articles on specific topics by selecting 'Useful Stuff' from the menu on the left side of the page. Here you can browse our information categories on the left by choosing one and clicking on it. You can narrow your search further by clicking on one of the four types of content on the right, depending on whether you are interested in taking an assessment, general information (Understand More), self-help (Moving Forward) or specific self-help exercises (Learn skills).

How do I search for another member?

To find a particular member, select 'Friends' from the menu on the left side of every page, and enter their name in the 'Search friends' box. You can then add the member as a friend or send them a message.

Members you have added as friends and who have accepted your request will display in the 'My Friends' section of your homepage.

The Wall is the heart and soul of the site, where you can view each brick, see the latest and most popular bricks in a slideshow or browse the 'Featured Walls' on a specific topic. To explore the Wall:

• Click and drag or use the arrows to navigate around the bricks.
• To zoom in on a brick that catches your eye, click on it once.
• To find out more details about the brick, pause, then click once again and you will be taken to the brick page, where you can view the creator and comments made on the brick.
• To go back to the Wall, pause, then double click on the brick.

Or, you can find a blank brick to create yourself.

You can view bricks and create your own by clicking on 'The Wall' in the menu on the top left of the page. Choose a blank brick from the wall, or click the 'Create Brick' button on the top right to open the brick drawing tool. Here you have three ways to express what you want to say.

Upload a photo or image of your choice, ensuring that you or others cannot be identified from it.

• Click on the ‘Image’ tab on the left hand menu and pick the picture you would like to upload.
• Your picture will now appear on the brick.
• If you click on the ‘Select’ option you can make your image smaller, larger or move it to wherever you would like on your brick.

Drawing effects

These tools help you to draw words or pictures.

• Click on the pencil icon under the 'Drawing ' on the left hand menu.
• You can change the colour of the tools and the width of each of them by clicking on the + or - buttons.

Text effects

• Click on the ‘Type’ option on the left hand menu.
• You can select your font, size and colour for typing.
• Type in the text you want in the box that appears. To change the size of the text use the + and under ‘Tool size’.
• To change the size of the text box, click on the grey triangle at the bottom right of the text box and then drag to the desired size.
• Double click on the text box and drag to move it around.
• To rotate your text in the box, select the text box and spin the green arrow.

If you would like to add something new just repeat the above steps, you will be able to delete the layers you no longer want. That way you don't lose all your hard work if you change your mind about something.

You can now save your brick, which will take you to another page with your brick preview. Here you can:

• Give your brick a name.
• Type in any text related to the brick. Sometimes it is an explanation of the image, a question and so on. Remember to add topics.
• Choose to have the brick either 'Public', so your username will be displayed with the brick, or 'Private', so the brick will be posted as 'Anonymous'. When you reply to a comment on a brick that you have created anonymously your reply also comes up as anonymous.
• Decide whether you want people to comment on the brick or not. The 'Allow Comments' box will allow you to choose by ticking or unticking it.
• Change the status of your bricks at any time from your account page. For more information on this, go to Your Privacy.
• If you are running low on time or inspiration, click on the save button so the brick remains on your account page and you can return to it at a later date.

When you have finished, click on 'Post Brick' to add your brick to those already making up the wall. Enjoy!

You can create a brick and gift it to a friend on Big White Wall.

You can choose to create a brick for them or send a blank brick so that person can use it to let us know how they are feeling.

Click on 'Share this Brick' and enter the member name of the person you wish to share it with.

Unless you choose to enter a message, the brick will be gifted completely anonymously.

Your friend will receive a message from Big White Wall saying a friend has created a brick for them.

Have you got issues or concerns that you want to share with others? Talkabouts (TAs) is the place to do this.

Community Talkabout

You can view and join an existing conversation by clicking 'Talkabouts' in the menu on the left, then browsing through ongoing TAs.

Or if none of the existing subjects seem to cover what you want to talk about click on the 'Start Talkabout' button and start your own.

Your subject should indicate what the TA will concentrate on. You can start a TA about a subject specific to your situation if you need objective points of view or just an empathetic ear to listen; for example, "Can anybody suggest coping strategies for anxiety?"

If you add topics to the TA in the 'Topics' bar, members who are interested in similar subjects will be more aware of the new TA.

If you feel that the subject or message might be offensive to other members, please tick "This May be Considered to be Offensive".

When you are satisfied with your TA, simply press the 'Post Talkabout' button and you are all set.

You can stay up to date with Talkabouts you are interested or involved in by opening the TA and clicking 'Watch this'. These will then display in 'My Watched Talkabouts'.

Group Talkabout (GTA)

To invite only specific members to participate in the TA, click on the 'Make this a Group Talkabout' button which will give you the option to be viewed by invitees only.

Personal Talkabout (PTA)

To start a Personal Talkabout with a friend:

• Go to the member's profile by searching in 'Friends' and clicking on their name.
• Click on the 'Send Message' button and the message will be a PTA between you and your friend. PTAs are not viewed by other members, but are still visible to the BWW Team

Find your personal talkabouts by selecting 'Talkabouts' from the menu and clicking on the tab at the top of the page

PersonalTalkabout (PTA) with a Wall Guide (WG)

If you have a non-urgent problem or issue you feel unable to share in the community, you can start a PTA with a WG by clicking 'Ask a Wall Guide' at the top right corner of every page. Find your personal talkabouts by selecting 'Talkabouts' from the menu and clicking on the tab at the top of the page.

Tags or keywords which you add to your bricks and Talkabouts, make it easier for others to find content relevant to them. When others type keywords into the Big White Wall search box, your brick or TA will appear in the search alongside other content with the same tag.

There are several clinical tests to choose from to help you understand how you are feeling. To take an assessment:

Click on 'Assess yourself' on the menu on the top left of the page.

Choose an assessment from the list.

When the assessment opens, select the appropriate level for each item on the list and press the 'Submit' button.

You will then be given a brief explanation of your score. It may suggest that you are showing signs of high stress and that you should contact your provider. Or it may suggest that your stress levels are currently low.

There will be links to further information that can help you understand what you are experiencing.

You will have the option to retake the assessment if you are not satisfied that you selected the correct options.

After you have taken the assessment, you can read the Useful Stuff resources on the same topic, which can help you to understand further, move forward and test out specific self-help skills.

You can go back and look at your results or take the assessment when your mood feels different. To do this, go to 'Assess Yourself' and click on 'My Previous Assessments'.

What is Guided Support?

Guided Support is a collection of structured online courses available on Big White Wall. These courses last from 2-6 weeks. When you join a course, you receive an introduction which includes the number of weeks the course will last, the number of sessions per week, and what you can expect to see and do in the course. Each session contains general education about a specific topic or a self-reflection exercize. In most sessions, you will also learn a helpful skill. Each session ends with an activity using the information and skills learned in the day’s session.

Guided Support courses run regularly. If you miss one, you can join it the next time it starts.

How can I join a Guided Support course?

You can choose a course by going to the Guided Support section of Big White Wall, available from your homepage. The Guided Support section will include all current and upcoming courses. Then, just choose the one you’d like to join.

Once the course starts, you will receive a message prompting you to log in to complete the first activity, with a weekly prompt to complete your activities until the course ends.

Can I take more than one course at a time?

There is no limit on the number of Guided Support courses you can join, but we recommend waiting until you have completed one before starting another.

How do I know that Guided Support courses work?

Guided Support courses are based on the most current clinical evidence that has been shown to help people cope with difficult issues or symptoms. Courses are designed to improve your coping skills and promote healthy behaviours. Taking the course with others has been shown to motivate members to complete the courses.

Can I leave a Guided Support course if I want to?

You’re in control of what you do on Big White Wall. You can complete the activities at any time during the week. If you don’t like the course you don’t have to complete it. However, to get the full benefit, it is always best to try to complete it if you can. Some of the skills you learn may not seem helpful now, but may help you with issues that come up later.

How can I get help with Guided Support or ask question.

Ask a Wall Guide if you have any questions about Guided Support.

You can talk to a Wall Guide at any time by clicking 'Ask a Wall Guide' on the top right of every page. You can also select 'Ask a Wall Guide' from the menu on the left side of every page. This will open a personal Talkabout between you and the Wall Guide.

To change your password:

Click on 'Account'.

Type in the current password, new password and confirm new password

Change time zone:

You can change your time zone and other personal data in 'Account'.

Change my mood:

Go to the homepage

Click on 'Change Mood' and choose one of the mood buttons.

To avoid upsetting content:

If you want to filter content to remove anything that might be deemed upsetting or offensive go to 'Account' and tick the 'Safe Filter' box.

Yes, we’d be happy for you to continue using Big White Wall. When you signed up originally, it was for access to six months use of the service. If you originally joined after 3rd April 2018, please just log into www.bigwhitewall.ca as normal after expiry, and you’ll be presented with an option to enter your postal code for another six months’ access.

If you originally joined before 3rd April 2018, please re-register through our Canadian website www.bigwhitewall.ca using ‘join now’ to create a new profile. Please note that this means you will have to create a new profile under Canadian Terms and Conditions, so if you’d like to keep using the same email address or use the same member username you are currently registered with, you’ll need to discuss this with a Wall Guide. As this will be a new account, unfortunately you won’t be able to take your current content on Big White Wall.

Big White Wall is a 16+ service so it’s necessary for us to ask you for a date of birth. After making an initial check for eligibility, Big White Wall does not collect your full date of birth but only the month and year.

Gender and ethnicity may be used to create reports and data. These reports and data will never contain information that can be used to identify You. We use such reports and data, and may disclose them to external parties, such as funding sources, for: statistical, analytical and reporting purposes; research; and for evaluating and enhancing the Site.

Big White Wall stores the information that you provide to activate your Account (e.g., your ethnicity and gender) separately from your month and year of birth, postal code and email address.

Big White Wall offers the benefit of an international community, established since 2007. Members can join BWW from Canada, but also New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Our WallGuides are also an international team, and this means that we are able to support our members day and night.

BWW has strict rules to ensure your safety.

We have House Rules and Your Privacy that guide you on how to keep safe on the site. We advocate a policy of non-exchange of personal information or private contacts.

All new content generated by our members on the site, including Talkabouts and Bricks are monitored 24/7. Specific behaviour on the website will trigger a response by BWW staff (Wall Guides) and an escalation process will be implemented.

While it happens infrequently, we will remove any content from the website and bar members who are not working within the House Rules and Your Privacy.

BWW is only for adults 16 years and over. While we monitor for inappropriate content, our members are free to express their feelings about many issues that would be inappropriate for minors.

Many people dealing with adversity experience suicidal thoughts and/or thoughts of self-harming. Wall Guides respond immediately when alerted to members who are at danger of self-harm by:

• Checking whether they have already acted in a way that is harmful, and strongly encourage them to contact emergency services or their health care provider
• Encouraging the member to talk about what they are feeling and what they think is causing the feelings
• Listening empathetically and being present for the member, making it clear they are not going away
• Checking whether they have anyone with them or close by that they can call to be with them
• Explore whether the member has had self-harming thoughts or behaviors previously and what did they do that helped
• Exploring the type of things they find soothing i.e. music, reading etc.
• Encouraging them to draw on the support of their peers/friends on BWW
• Exploring whether they have sought or would like to see professional help in their local area
• Encouraging the member to keep in touch
• Keeping regular contact with the member to see how they are doing

When you join Big White Wall as a member, you agree to our Terms of Use, which includes the House Rules. Your acceptance of these terms indicates your understanding of these rules and your confirmation that you are at least 16 years of age. Maintaining House Rules helps us to make sure that Big White Wall works well for the entire community. Violation of House Rules will result in a warning or, in some cases, a loss of membership.

As a member, you are taking responsibility for your actions and behavior on Big White Wall. The rules below foster every member's ability to access the Wall for support, learning, and recovery in an anonymous and personal manner.

It is important to remember that Big White Wall is a support for, not a replacement of, your life offline.

Big White Wall takes your safety very seriously and we would encourage you to do the same.

• Contact a Wall Guide through the 'Ask a Wall Guide' button if you are concerned about how another member is behaving with you or with other members - do not hesitate, better safe than sorry - Wall Guides will not identify that you have alerted them.
• Do not use real names or identifiable details about you - like where you live, your employer/college, family or friend's names - in the 'My Story' section of 'My Public Profile' or elsewhere.
• Do not upload identifiable photographs of yourself or others onto bricks or avatars.
• Do not share your login details including email and password and username with anyone including those who are and who are not members of Big White Wall such as friends or family.
• If you do not want anyone to know that you are using Big White Wall, access your account through a third party computer in a safe location and create a new email account to which only you know the login details.
• Do not use the real names or identifiable details about other people in your posts and bricks.
• Do not upload pictures of real people onto bricks unless it is possible to fully disguise their identity.
• Do not tell your family or friends or others about being on Big White Wall if you do not want to run the risk of them identifying your posts.
• Do not exchange any personal details including your name, address, email, telephone number, where you live/work/study or bank details with your Big White Wall friends or others on Big White Wall.
• Do not exchange any personal details including your name, address, email, telephone number, where you live/work/study or bank details with Wall Guides or other Big White Wall staff.
• Never agree to meet someone you meet on Big White Wall offline including Wall Guides and other Big White Wall staff. Without wishing to scare you, remember that not everyone portrays themselves online as they are in real life.

Big White Wall takes your safety very seriously and we would encourage you to do the same.

• Trained Wall Guides are present 24/7 to respond to any worries or concerns at all you have about other members behavior on Big White Wall
• Trained Wall Guides are present 24/7 to respond to any worries or concerns at all you have about members being at immediate risk of causing harm to themselves or others
• All content on Big White Wall is read by Wall Guides
• Wall Guides send you a message if they think you have used a real name or other identifying information without realising
• There is an immediate alert system for members using words like suicide, cutting, help or abuse that will get a high priority response from a Wall Guide
• There is an immediate alert system for members scoring themselves as suicidal on a test that will get a high priority response from a Wall Guide
• Wall Guides follow clear policies and procedures for members at risk of harming self or others on Big White Wall and for inappropriate behavior
• Wall Guides do not have access to your email address or registration data which is kept separate from your user name
• Wall Guides and other members of Big White Wall staff are advanced checked for criminal records
• Wall Guides and other Big White staff will never ask you for any personal details including your name, address, email, telephone number, where you live/work/study or bank details unless this is required.

Research has demonstrated that people tend to avoid sharing their troubles with friends, family or healthcare professionals. For example, 50% never go to a doctor for fear of stigma. Men in particular are afraid to reveal how they feel or what's troubling them. Big White Wall provides an environment in which members feel safe and supported while remaining anonymous.

Through our anonymity feature you are free to talk about the things that matter to you without the fear of being judged or someone you know finding out.

When you join BWW, you choose a username so no-one knows who you are. You are then free to talk about the things that matter to you with no fear of being judged or someone you know finding out.

Half of our members say they shared something for the first time on BWW

"It's just a nice, safe community, no one knows me here, so I'm free to talk about things that I wouldn't say to my friends."

Findings from an independent review of BWW found that:

• 1 in 2 members shared an issue for the first time on BWW
• 80% self-managed their psychological distress
• 67% reported one or more improvements in wellbeing

Other findings included:

• Two thirds of BWW members said they used the site mostly to relieve stress and loneliness
• Half said they used the site to relieve anxiety
• One third cited depression as their main reason for using Big White Wall
• One quarter of users had experienced suicidal feelings
• One fifth were self-harming BWW helped them deal with their feelings.

The majority of BWW users were able to self-manage their mental wellbeing without having to seek further help. Others found BWW a helpful step to, or complementary with, other medical or therapeutic intervention.

Research has shown that Big White Wall offers digital services that work. These include:

• Peer support: Davidson et al (2012) reviewed the evidence for peer support in severe mental illness and found evidence of improved engagement, reduced emergency admissions, and improved feelings of hope and control for people supported by their peers.
• Self-management approaches: Straten et al (2008), a Dutch group, conducted an RCT of the effectiveness of web-based self-help for depression, anxiety and stress. 213 people participated in the study and the program was found to be effective.
• Professionally guided support: Hedman (2014) wrote an editorial in the BMJ about the effectiveness of therapist-led guided support for, in particular, depression, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder, and described the Swedish ICBT clinic that has treated over 3000 patients.

BWW has developed its clinical methodology framework in partnership with one of the leading mental health organisations in the world, the Tavistock and Portman National Health Service Foundation Trust. In addition, the company employs psychiatrists and physicians who provide continuous updates on evidence-based approaches to providing mental health/chronic condition support services in digital environments. Our science is grounded in models of social health with clinical oversight.

If your username isn't working, please try logging in with your email address. We all forget them sometimes. In rare cases, we may have changed your username if you signed up with one that goes against our anonymity policies. You should have received an email about this, but in case you missed it, be assured that your email address works just as well and check your inbox once you're on the site.

If you got your code directly from your healthcare professional, employer or university it is important that you start your account by either:

• clicking on the link in your email for your membership code to be entered automatically
• clicking on the 'Join Us' link on top of this page and entering your provider member ID or the code that was handed to you on your instruction page.

If you've not gotten or lost your instruction email please contact your referrer to retrieve your code

If you have a problem with your account that isn't addressed in our FAQ's, please contact our support team - theteam@bigwhitewall.ca

Each member is allowed only one identity or account. Please do not attempt to setup more than one account. If you are found to have more than one account, it will be shut down and you risk suspension on the Wall without warning.

Despite our best efforts, technological issues can occur at any time. As a result the site can go down or errors may occur that result in loss of content or images. Please let us know immediately if you notice anything not working properly or if you have any other concerns not answered by our FAQ's

Email the BWW support team at theteam@bigwhitewall.ca.

We respond to any concerns within a 24h working day.

If you are concerned about a fellow member, click on the 'Report' button under the users name/avatar. This will show up as a flagged item, which will alert the Wall Guides.

For other non-urgent queries or problems please click the 'Ask a Wall Guide' button and describe the issue. Wall Guides will be able to reply to non-urgent queries sooner than the Team.

If somebody has broken the house rules let us know by clicking the 'Ask a Wall Guide' button at the top right corner of every page, or use the report button to alert the Team.