Why Blogging Improves My Mental Health

When our family fell down what I think of as the "rabbit hole" of mental health treatment, there were two things I most wanted: information and companionship. I wanted to understand the illness and treatments, and I wanted not to feel alone.

Blogging, for me, offers both. In the growing world of bloggers, information is being shared in real time and with increasing skill. More parents are stepping forward to share anecdotal accounts and exchanging links to real data and research. The treatment world, too, is throwing off the clinical distance and speaking directly to the public. These bloggers aren't just talking, they're listening and responding to their readers. Readers challenge, inform, and start new directions. I am more and more optimistic that health care in general, and mental health care in particular, will be changed by this new set of conversations. The openness and interchange of blogging serves as both a community and an ongoing information exchange - fulfilling both of my hopes for parents facing an illness in the family.

I was a writer before I entered the mental health advocacy world. Starting a blog was a bit intimidating. I no longer had an editor between myself and the reader. I depended on the kindness of copy editors to keep me from my own silly errors, and an editor as a wise first public view. I also was unused to hearing directly from the public - often anonymously. This forced me to take comments for their content and not by the credentials of the correspondent.

In my years of blogging, I have found friends, information, and been held accountable in ways I had not initially anticipated and now I find it an indispensable part of my life. I get a lot out of reading blogs and from my reader comments.

I am so looking forward to being a blogger for HealthyPlace. This opportunity to speak to and with a community with a broader view of mental health is important, especially because eating disorders have often been off in their own cul-de-sac of thinkers and advocates. I believe mental health and mental illnesses have far more in common than they differ and we can all benefit from understanding each other and sharing information. Not all in the eating disorder community are comfortable with seeing EDs in the same category as bipolar and ADHD and autism, but I do. Not all in the larger mental health world welcome eating disorders as a topic either - but I hope they will. This blog will, I hope, be a bridge. I look forward to getting to know the community here, and joining the conversations. It is an honor to be here!