I am very excited to be part of the JAAQ (Just Ask a Question) website which was launched this evening on the BBC One Show.
Back in May I was filmed answering questions about Body Dysmorphic Disorder. So you can now ask me a question by speech or text on the website and the clever algorithms will find the best answer for you. It is cool. You can also ask my colleague Paul Gilbert about depression. Future filming will include one on obsessive compulsive disorder and one on emetophobia. The idea is to have one “expert” and one person with lived experience to answer your questions.
Hats off to Danny Gray who founded the JAAQ project and is developing a commercial arm to fund the free site for mental health. No more reading of information leaflets or reams of text on a website to find the answer to the question you want. It would also be a great opportunity for people to ask questions to public figures – for example asking a rock star to play you a song. However, I am not sure if I want to see a politician on this platform and escape the proper probing of a good journalist.