Wow, what a day yesterday was for us — World Mental Health Day, 2012.

In our second annual blog party to celebrate World Mental Health Day, we had over 100 bloggers, writers, organizations and contributors from around the world participate. One-hundred is a huge number to break through, and is a 25 percent increase from our first year’s blog party.

Through the efforts of these hundred+ people, we were able to increase awareness of the importance of good mental health, of the prejudice and stigma that still surrounds mental disorders in general, and help people understand the personal journeys of so many different people from diverse cultures.

I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who participated directly by submitting an entry to the party, to all those who shared our efforts with their friends, family and extended social network, the great set of staffers here at Psych Central who managed the tidal wave of entries to keep track of, and also to The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, who lent their voice to help extend the reach of this effort.

I don’t want to single out any set of entries from the list, so I encourage you to browse through them yourself. Contributors include a news editor of a Liberian newspaper, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Psychological Association, and dozens of person voices sharing their personal stories of tragedy, hope, and recovery.

I am touched by the outpouring of support, of friendship, of personal stories that were shared yesterday, demonstrating what a global, connected community we really all are. I wish I could meet you all someday, face-to-face, to let you know how much I appreciate you, and your help in helping others face the mystery and frustrating aspects of mental illness.

In the meantime, all I can say is, “Thank you.”

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 11 Oct 2012
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.