Inspiration
The inspiration for Brighter Days stemmed from the need for a safe and anonymous platform where individuals could freely express their thoughts and emotions regarding mental health and suicide without fear of judgment.
What it does
Brighter Days provides a secure environment for users to anonymously journal their experiences with mental health and suicide. It offers a supportive community where users can share their stories, find empathy, and receive validation.
How I built it
I built Brighter Days using modern web development technologies and prioritized user privacy and confidentiality. The platform incorporates features for anonymous journaling, community sharing, and support. Leveraging Flask as the web framework and Python as the backend language, I implemented the core functionalities. For the front end, I utilized HTML and CSS to design the user interface, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience. Additionally, I integrated an SQLite database to securely store hashed passwords and user journals, maintaining data integrity and privacy.
Challenges I ran into
I ran into problems relating to formatting with HTML and CSS. I spent at least half of my time working on HTML and how to format elements which I have little experience in. Additionally, integrating responsive design for various screen sizes posed a significant challenge. Balancing design aesthetics with functionality was another hurdle I encountered during the development process. Despite these challenges, I persevered and sought out resources to overcome them, ultimately gaining valuable skills and insights in web development.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I'm proud of creating a feature that efficiently allows users to share (anonymous or not) their journals with other people in hopes of improving mental health by experiencing new stories and views.
What I learned
Through the development of Brighter Days, I learned the importance of prioritizing user privacy and the significance of fostering a supportive online community. I also gained insights into the challenges individuals face when discussing mental health and suicide. More technically, I learned various CSS and HTML strategies and techniques for formatting a website.
What's next for Brighter Days
In the future, I aim to enhance the platform with a better, cleaner design and additional features such as personalized journaling prompts, mental health resources, and more robust community engagement tools. I also plan to expand our outreach efforts to reach a wider audience in need of support.
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