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What Do You Think About Mental Health Blogs?

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Cool Cat

MyPTSD Pro
In some ways I really like them, but for other reasons - they really annoy and frustrate me, a lot.

Why I like them
It's nice to read someone elses experience
If you are trying to pluck up courage to see a T for the first time
They can make you hopeful
They make it easier for others to be open

Why they really annoy me
Bloggers who aren't trained professionals writing about something 'medical' that they do not know enough about outside their own experience
Bloggers going on like their experience of anxiety/depression/PTSD is the only kind
Bloggers who try to say their experience was worse than yours
Bloggers who project the "Nobody understands" rhetoric
Bloggers leaving out large important gaps in stories

Would love to know what you think about them
 
I am one of them. (that sounds creepy doesn't it. :bag:).

But generally, my writing isn't "journal" style. I keep my diary to my actual diary.
Instead I write my opinion about stuff. I always emphasize that it is my own personal opinion, not universal law.

I have seen a lot of blogs that are more like a personal journal and I have doubts about that, although I think it can be good.
It's good when people talk about trauma, and open up about it, because it'll spread understanding.
 
Hah sometimes I feel like one by posting here! I have written about mental health before, but moreso in the area of how it is portrayed in the media, lack of services and stigma.

I guess the ones I really really hate are the "I'm all better now" blog posts because the happy ever after thing doesn't really happen. I do believe that you can absolutely make a huge recovery, but it's like someone who was physically sick, got better and said "I will never be sick again".

I also don't like the ones that use too much clinical language or simplify it.

I think there is lots of room for opinion on mental health and I do find those blogs very interesting. I love reading different perspectives on things like types of therapy, disclosing your mental health problem at work, issues that people have going public, or how some things are greatly misunderstood.
 
I'm just grateful for anyone who is brave enough to contribute something.... and if somebody says they're cured of PTSD, who am I to argue? I don't know them, I don't know their story, I don't know their strength. Cured means different things to different people.

If I ever learn to like myself and stop saying I'm sorry, every second of every day of every year, I'm letting you know right now, I'll be cured.

No harshness intended, sorry if I offended.

.... dangnabit, I'm going back to House of Cards
 
I don't like blogs, period. Let me explain....

I guess I don't like the way that everyone is out there to get a little piece of attention. It is very much like social media in this regard. That is, people aren't necessarily writing for their own enjoyment, rather they are writing so that they can get their opinion out there and be seen. (I write for my own reasons, none of which involve needing the approval of other people, hence why my online journals are private and seen only by me.) I've seen enough blogs to know that the opinions of many of these people aren't worth a damn. And honestly, I don't care about what other people *think*. Their opinions are meaningless to me. In the grand scheme of things, I much rather read up on FACTUAL things like the news (no arguments about this one, but I think you get my point!), or from reputable sources such as scientific studies, etc. I just don't care what some random person from the middle of Kansas thinks about.....anything!

I do admit that there are better types of blogs, ie those which revolve around a specific type of activity and only discuss that activity, ie cooking or gardening or whatever, but for the most part, they're just not worth my time so I avoid them altogether.
 
I don't try blogs, I stopped doing so years ago like 4-5 years. Then I learned their techniques don't work for me because you have to do lot of talk and discussion to make certain technique work. This is not like someone served you a idea and that worked out for you. Both parties have to talk each other, otherwise all will fall apart in no time.

Blogs are very risky IMO. Sometimes may work or sometimes may not.
 
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The only blog I read regularly that mental health is a regular component of is TheBloggess... Who struggles with depression & anxiety... But it's only a component. Not the leading character. It's mostly a humor blog.

Stuff crops up from time to time, though, that just makes me burst out laughing... That may only be funny to we of shared symptoms.

For example... During a marketing & politics gone amok post :

"Anyone else flooded w/ mildly hysterical DCCC emails tonight? Someone get them a blanket & some Xanax. Pull it together, you guys."

Cracked. Me. Up. Oh yeah. Xanax & a blankie? Had those days!
 
I have learned some very scientific and psychological facts from some mental health blogs. One such blog was by a CBT Therapist just getting the word out in 2007. This led me to self regulation techniques that I had not previously been exposed to with the PTSD gambit. I wrote him and he offered several sites, people, authors, research studies, Ted Talks to further study.

As well before many cultures or ideas become mainstream (example: adult children of alcoholics/ codependence or even PTSD acceptance), I found blogs from lay people that echoed what we now accept as medical solid.

I also, consider that so called experts (?) change with the wind their stances. Please consider that at one time, AIDS was another topic of underground blogs for years by non-experts that feared of being stamped with a 'mental illness label' by the Mental Health Experts (for being LGBT). Experts also thought the world was flat. Maybe the ones in the trenches have some value in knowing their own experiences- be it expert or not. jmho Thanks for listening.
 
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