Editorial standards
How ExploreMentalHealth researches, writes, medically reviews, fact-checks and updates mental health content — and how we keep commercial interests separate.
Every page on ExploreMentalHealth follows the same process, designed to make our content accurate, understandable and independent.
Editors choose topics based on what people need to know — questions readers ask, gaps in clear information and changes in evidence or guidance. Commercial teams do not choose or shape editorial topics.
Writers research each topic using high-quality sources, then write in plain language. We distinguish clearly between:
We never write content that claims to diagnose readers. Instead we explain that symptoms can occur with a condition, and that only a qualified professional can provide a diagnosis.
We prioritize, in roughly this order:
We avoid low-quality blogs, marketing materials and unsupported claims as medical evidence. Sources are listed in the References section of each clinical page.
Clinical content — about conditions, treatments and medications — is reviewed by a licensed professional with relevant expertise before publication and at regular intervals. Reviewers check accuracy, clinical nuance, safety messaging and whether content could be misunderstood.
Each page shows who reviewed it and when. If a page has not yet been medically reviewed, we say so clearly rather than implying otherwise. Learn about our medical review board.
A fact checker verifies claims, statistics, quotes and citations against original sources. See our fact-checking standards.
Editors review every page for readability, tone and stigma-free language, and to ensure crisis resources are included where appropriate.
We review content on a regular schedule and whenever significant new evidence, guidelines or safety information is published. Pages show both the date of the last update and the date of the last medical review.
If we make a mistake, we correct it promptly and transparently. See our corrections policy or report an error.
Our editorial team operates independently from advertising and business partnerships. Advertisers and affiliate partners cannot review, approve or influence editorial content. Commercial content — such as comparison guides — is clearly labeled and follows a published methodology. Read our advertising policy and affiliate disclosure.
If we use software tools, including AI, to assist with research or drafting, a human editor is responsible for every word we publish, and all content goes through the same review and fact-checking process.