TAMPA, Fla. — Johnny Crowder has made it his mission to shift the mindset.
"What if we could interrupt our negative thoughts with something positive? Shouldn't that over time change the way we think and feel?" Crowder said.
It's this concept that Crowder is trying to create through his business, Cope Notes.
It's a daily mental health support system in the form of a text message.
ABC Action News previously reported on Cope Notes in July 2020 and March 2021. Now, the text message platform has exchanged more than a million texts and impacted more than 21,000 lives.
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The idea was born out of necessity for Crowder back in 2017.
"I have survived everything from schoolyard bullying to childhood trauma. Physical, sexual and emotional abuse, eating disorders, hallucinations, suicide attempts and diagnosis ranging from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia to OCD, ADHD, and the rest of the DSM alphabet," Crowder said.
He began the concept by creating personal notes for himself and would hide them around his house with the hope it would shift his negative thoughts into positive ones.
It worked for a little bit, but as Crowder said, it was like tickling yourself. You're just not that good at it when you're doing it to yourself.
So he went bigger and created Cope Notes where a mood booster is delivered to users in text form every day.
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Users simply log onto the website, put in their cell phone number, and wait.
"We send one text per day at a random time and it's written by a peer with lived experience, so it has that peer support component. It's reviewed by a clinical oversight panel so those are the mental health professionals that ensure that all of the content is actually helpful and psychologically accurate," Crowder said.
Cope Notes is available in more than 90 countries with tens of thousands of people taking away a different perspective from their text message, but proving no matter your religion, race, or anything in between we are all just trying to get by.
"What we're sending you will help you regardless of what you're going through or what your interpersonal situation is because all of us feel frustrations or regret or we get nervous for things. We doubt ourselves," Crowder said.
Cope Notes also allows the user to text back and serves as a personal journal.
It is subscription-based with plans starting less than $10 a month. For more information visit copenotes.com.
