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Mental health has always been considered taboo in society. Prioritizing our physical health over mental health is a common norm that people have knowingly and unknowingly divulged in, until recently. There are several useful mental health blogs for motivation available on the internet.
The COVID-19 1pandemic has brought about a lot of changes in the world and one of them is talking about mental illness in ways more than one.
Awareness about mental illness, its symptoms, and battling mental health stigma has increased recently in the form of mental health blogs, social media posts, and youtube videos in the hope to reach as many as possible. Let us discuss some of the blogs.
1. What Do We Mean by Mental Health?
Well, there is no one answer or definition to this question. Everybody perceives mental health in their way. Some may say that mental health is all about mental peace and stability while some may say that feeling positive and confident about themselves and their surroundings is what they think is good mental health.
Mental health affects different people in different ways. It influences how we think, behave, make choices and even act in different relationships.
Sometimes, even the absence of mental disorders is also termed mental stability.
Good mental health is very important for our daily functioning in life. Different social, psychological, and biological factors determine our mental health at a particular stage of our life.
Social exclusion, stressful work life, social discrimination, and bereavement are considered some of the reasons for poor mental health.
2. Early Warning Signs of Mental Illness
Distinguishing the warning signs of a mental illness is very difficult. Sometimes, people are not even aware of the symptoms, so they cannot take proper professional help when needed. So, it is important to be aware of the early warning signs for preventing mental disorders.
Some of these signs in adults as well as adolescents are:
- eating too little or too much
- sleeping too much or too little
- having aches and pains for unknown reasons
- feeling numb
- consuming alcohol or drugs more than usual
- having little or no energy
- getting angry for no reason
- feeling lost, confused, upset, or worried
- extreme mood swings
- social withdrawal
- persistent thoughts or voices in the head
- feeling overwhelmed
- poor concentration or getting easily distracted
You can read more about mental health symptoms and warning signs on many mental health blogs. One such article is by NAMI which you can read by clicking here.
3. Some Mental Health Blogs for Motivation
Mental health is not something that has a proper handbook describing how to deal with it. Experiences of different people who have dealt with the same mental illness in the past as you are experiencing are helpful and comforting. Knowing you are not alone in this can help you in coping better and reading about such experiences in mental health blogs by different people also help you in learning from other’s mistakes and experiences.
This is one of the main reasons that has urged many people to start mental health blogs. Mental health bloggers share their own mental health stories and build communities to help others.
We can also come across blogs by mental health professionals who have started their mental health blogs, talking about different types of mental health and ways to manage it.
Some of the most helpful mental health blogs on the web are:
3.1. The Mighty
The Mighty is one of the mental health blogs for people facing health problems and people who care about them. You can explore all types of personal stories relating to mental health problems by different people or you can even join their community and be part of their various programs that will keep you motivated and positive.
All the blogs written in The Mighty are true and based on real-life experiences and are inspiring life stories. Just like the beautiful red heart as their symbol, the people you connect with with the help of this blog have a big heart too!
3.2. Creative Aga; not Depression
There are a lot of depression blogs written by many mental health bloggers but unlike the other mental health blogs, Creative Aga; inst Depression is a mental health blog by the creatives, for the creatives. As soon as you open this website, ‘You are NOT alone’ is displayed in big, bold letters, sending a rush of warmth and safety to you.
This mental health blog is for all the artists out there who struggle with anxiety, depression self-deprecating thoughts, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health issues.
While checking out this blog, do make sure to see the ‘Surreal illustrations of mental illnesses for Inktober‘ by Shawn Coss who focussed his drawings on complex mental health issues like borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and many more for Inktober. His drawings are eerily accurate and display the ugly side of mental health conditions in the most haunting way.
3.3. The Blunt Therapy
The Blunt Therapy is a professional mental health blog by Randy Withers, a mental health professional.
This blog contains tips, articles, and advice about mental health matters. Randy started this blog to help people be smart about addictions, therapy, parenting, mental illness, and relationships. He has struggled with depression, anxiety, substance abuse issues, and low self-esteem and therefore can share the experiences first-hand.
Blunt Therapy is one of those mental health blogs which has reliable mental health research and is the best resource for information from a licensed therapist who has also been once affected. All articles in this blog are credible and are based on evidence. Blunt Therapy is for people who struggle with mental health issues as well as people who want to know more about mental health topics and have a curious mind.
3.4. Blurt
A social enterprise, Blurt is a mental health blog that is dedicated to creating a healthier and happier society by bringing about real positive changes. The Blurt team helps others combat depression by connecting people who have gone through the same mental illness and making the scary times a little reassuring.
Jayne Hardy, the founder of Blurt, has also struggled through major depression through her 20s and thus decided to create a platform to prevent others from going through the same mental health issues as she did.
One of the main goals of the Blurt team is to raise awareness about depression and challenge the shame that people feel in reaching out for help and promoting mental health.
3.5. Beautiful Voyager
There are many mental health blogs about people with anxiety-related disorders but Beautiful Voyager is a bit different from the others. Instead of writing articles, the blogger hosts interviews with other people and shares their stories as well.
Meredith Arthur was diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder at the age of 40. Knowing nothing about her mental illness, Meredith searched and researched online for anything relatable but came up with nothing. That was when the idea of Beautiful Voyager was born.
In hopes to get the answer to questions, Beautiful Voyager hosts podcast interviews about different mental health topics. It is a community for ‘overthinkers, perfectionists, and people pleasers.
You can also join by sending your story and getting featured in the blog for others to listen to your story too!
3.6. The Secret Life Of A Manic Depressive
If you want to laugh and uplift your mood, then Seaneen’s mental health blog is the right place to visit. A mental health advocate, Seaneen started writing her blog at the age of 20 when she was diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder.
Initially, her blog was a way to rant about her mental health problems of having bipolar disorder but gradually she earned loyalty and trusted readers who supported her and kept her motivated for her onward journey.
This mental health writer knows how to add humor in serious situations and make your journey light and positive with a good dose of laughter here and there.
3.7. Anxious Lass
There are many mental health blogs written by people suffering from mental illness. Kelly Jean, a mental health writer, is one such person who started Anxious Lass as a safe place for herself as well as others facing the same or other mental illnesses to discuss and support each other in their mental health journey. At 14, she was diagnosed with severe social anxiety and struggled a lot during her childhood.
Anxious 2Lass is mental health as well as a lifestyle blog with blogs and articles about real-life experiences and personal stories of social anxiety and other mental health concerns.
Apart from her blog posts, Kelly also provides friendly week-long email courses with helpful tips about de-stressing and a self-help e-book called Social Anxiety to Social Stress.
There are many more useful mental health3 blogs like Mental Health @ Home, run by a former mental health nurse, Ashley L. Peterson whose blogs and articles display the accurate truth, no matter how bitter they are. From both sides of the Couch, a blog in which a licensed clinical social worker, Andrea Rosenhaft, writes about her journey of mental illness and her mental health treatment can provide you immense motivation for your recovery journey too.
Always remember that whatever you may be going through, there is someone out there who can help you and support you, you just need to find them.
4. A Few Tips to Deal With Mental Illness
There is no proper or permanent solution to any mental illness and you just have to learn to deal with it and manage it better. But, even then, there will be days when you will not feel good or simply have a bad day on your journey.
So, listed below are some ways to help you improve your mental well-being and inspire hope for you to continue forward:
4.1. Start Your Own Mental Health Blog
Sometimes talking to people can be difficult and stressful. If you prefer writing about your mental health challenges, then writing on mental health blogs could be a perfect way to start. Writing about your personal experiences can also help you as well as other people dealing better with the same mental illness.
There are many types of mental health blogs. Some mental health bloggers prioritize providing accurate mental health resources like Mental Health America, while other mental health professionals focus more on mental illness treatments and mental health support, or like most mental health bloggers, you can simply share your own mental health stories. There is no rule to anything.
You can refer to this detailed guide about how to start your mental health blog for more information and useful tips.
4.2. Be a Part of Online Therapy Groups
The global pandemic of 2020 has made online therapies a necessity and research suggests that online group therapies are now more preferable to mental wellness techniques than physical ones.
One of the benefits being that it ensures more frequent participation and at the same time allows some degree of privacy and anonymity. Also, it provides opportunities to those people who may not have access to local support groups in their communities.
4.3. Indulge in Self-care
One of the most common reasons for mental illness is stress. It may be because of our hectic work life or certain events occurring in our personal life, but we always get stressed and overthink everything. That’s why your own mental well-being and emotional health need to take time out for yourself every day and indulge in self-care for personal growth and better mental health.
Meditation, exercise, eating well, and drinking lots of water are some things that you can do for sustaining health.
4.4. Track Your Progress
It is important to track your progress to keep yourself motivated and continue forward in your mental health journey. You can get a journal and write down three things that you are grateful for and three things that you have accomplished every day. This will help you with self-improvement, better emotional health, and mental wellness.
5. Conclusion
Hopefully, the article was able to shed some light on the different mental health blogs and proved to be helpful for your journey. You can also read the blog Self-Help Techniques for Coping Better with Mental Illness by National Alliance on Mental Illness(NAMI) or check out 15 Easy MentaTipsalth Tips For You by Icy Health for more tips and ideas. You can also find more on other mental health blogs which can you a better insight into such things.
Read more from us here.
- Ciotti, Marco, et al. “The COVID-19 pandemic.” Critical reviews in clinical laboratory sciences 57.6 (2020): 365-388. ↩︎
- Grier, Sonya A., Guillaume D. Johnson, and Maura L. Scott. “From anxious spaces to harmonious relations? Interracial marketplace interactions through the lens of consumer psychology.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 32.1 (2022): 97-126. ↩︎
- Moreno, Carmen, et al. “How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The lancet psychiatry 7.9 (2020): 813-824. ↩︎
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