One of our favorite blogs (in fact, one of the ones we named “Best of the Web” in the Depression category) is back — depression introspection.
I very much like her response, Response to “Mental Health Blogs Going Bye-Bye?”, to Philip’s Furious Seasons’ entry about …
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Thanks, John. I really appreciate your elaboration and insight on this. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Especially with this point:
“3. Blogging audiences in mental health are hard to come by. It’s taken us years to build up a decent audience for this blog, but that’s only after nearly a decade of on-again, off-again blogging. Most bloggers don’t have the patience to wait a decade and give up after only a few months. Some hang in there for a year or more. But most just throw up their hands in frustration and say, “Screw it, it’s not worth it.””
A decade is quite a long time! But this bit of information makes me realize that making a difference and having an impact takes a long time. This post was an encouragement for me to keep going. Thanks.
I agree with all those points, and I’m glad Marissa is getting a second wind. I’m due for another myself.
Hi,
I agree with Dr. Grohol and I am a professional writer! My publisher is always trying to get me to blog to promote myself and my book and it feels like just “having” to blog takes all the fun out of writing for me. In addition, and I don’t know if this is true for other depressives, I find that I am not that opinionated and can always see both sides of an issue. (This comes from parents who were always at odds with each other.)Thus, my writing style is more journalistic than blogalistic (Is that a word?) wherein writers are expected to stand on a soapbox. Yes, I wrote a whole book about overcoming my depression, but no, I don’t feel the need o blog about the topic every day.
Wendy Aron, author of Hide & Seek: How I Laughed at Depression, Conquered My Fears and Found Happiness http://wendyaron.com
Dr. Grohol is right, it takes diligence and patience to blog well. Many bloggers set themselves a regular schedule and feel obligated to post something on that schedule, whether it’s inspired or not. Perhaps we should decree a blogger’s rule of thumb that blogging schedules are a goal, not an absolute, and it is no crime to miss a prescheduled blog date when the blogger has nothing particularly interesting to say. But while we are on the subject, may I take this opportunity to announce something new, The Chaplain’s Blog, a forum on spirituality, faith, and healing. http://www.mentalhealthchaplain.org/blog The principal blogger is Craig Rennebohm of Seattle’s Mental Health Chaplaincy. Please join us if you are interested in a gentle, nonjudgmental approach to talking about mental illness and faith.
I fully agree with this assessment of blogs, whether related to depression or other issues. Recently, an acquaintance wrote me a curt note because I deleted my blog after a few days. She said, “You quit too easily.” No, I’m a writer and have not quit writing for 25 years. I just don’t like to write blogs! Thanks for the validation–that one is not a “quitter” just because one doesn’t like to blog!
I couldn’t agree with you more on the fact that blogging intelligently is hard work.
Even more depressing is the lack of traffic. Sometimes you feel like you’re just talking to yourself.
All of these are really good points. I blog about adult learning disabilities, as well as mental health issues, and it can be tough going sometimes. For that matter, finding other blogs about these subjects can also be tough going. Thanks for this article — I’ve received some encouragement, and a few blogs to check out.