Does Blogging Really Help You Cope With Depression?
May 24th, 2008 by zania
Does blogging help you cope with your depression? Will it help you sort out some of those feelings of anxiety? Will it make you depressed? Will it make your depression and anxiety worse?
I know, that’s a strange set of questions coming from someone who blogs for a living, suffers from depression and then makes a blog about it, but I often wonder whether actually blogging about depression is really beneficial or not.
Yes, many analysts tell us that one way to help us come to terrms with our depression is to write down our thoughts and, as most of us nowadays spend as much time (if not more) typing our words on a keyboard than writing them down with pen and paper, putting our depressed thoughts on a blog makes infinite sense.
And when we begin to get visitors to our depression blog, we can share our thoughts with them. However, if we are not in the mood to communicate, we can turn our comments off.
One particular writer, Cosmo, who writes the excellent Walking the Black Dog has dedicated his blog to overcoming his depression and telling others about valuable resurces which they may find helpful in overcoming theirs. He monitors his own ups and downs online for all his readers to see and his commentators appreciate his openness. This apprach my not be for you, but if you enjoy the company of others ‘from a distance’, rather than up front and personal as your analyst may be, then this could be one way to help you deal with your depression, particularly if it is long term. I would like this blog to eventually go that way too.
However, we then have to consider all the ‘dire health warnings about blogging’ which appeared (blown up out of all proportion) in the press fairly recently. Is sitting at a computer monitor for hours at a time good for our health? No, of course not. We need to get up and move around to keep our bodies active. If we find it possible and are not too depressed, we have to get out and meet the outside world. Doesn’t mean we can’t then get back to the pc though. General health, just like depression, needs a moderate approach. So if we can find this moderation, yes, writing about our depression online could well help.
But then comes another ‘gotcha’. If our blog about depression becomes popular, this could put us under stress to write every day ‘to please our readers’. We could get even more depressed about not being able to provide interesting reading for them when we feel really low , or when we simply have nothing much to say.
This is one thing that really gets to me. Despite suffering from chronic depression, I am also an ‘achiever’ who likes to deliver, so I do put myself under considerable stress to produce the goods for my readers and, as I have many blogs (many hand written), being unable to write for them all can make me extremely depressed!
There is also the point that I write for a living. No readers means no wages and we all know that, whether we like it or not, being poor can lead us into depression. A ‘Catch 22′ situation, but I am trying to deal with it.
I am not actually feeling that great at the moment, so this post about blogging and depression has been a little disjointed. Maybe I should take my own advice right now and get up from the pc and just go outside. The trouble is, all kidding aside, right now I just feel too low and depressed. So more next time.
Thank you so much for your kind words and link to my blog about depression. I hope people everywhere can benefit from both our blogs.
Keep up the good work and good luck with your black dog.
Thank you so much for visiting here Cosmo.
Your blog has so much to offer people who suffer from depression while this one is only in its infancy.
I really do recommend everyone visit http://www.walkingtheblackdog.com/ - depression sufferers, those who know someone with depression, or those who simply want a realistic take on the human condition. It’s well worth a visit and many return visits.
Thanks again for visiting
[...] many things going on inside your head to focus on the job in hand. But writing down your feelings, in a blog or on paper, may help to bring those emotions and constraints out and eventually calm your mind so [...]
i think that as a place to vent, a blog is an amazing thing to have, especially if you need to talk it out without exposing yourself. i went through a stage where i tried to reach out to my family and friends and in the end, they didn’t really understand or want to hear.
a blog, even one set up anonymously, is a great place to let it all go. maybe it’s read, maybe it’s not but in the end it is just a means to an end that allows the darkness to be a little bit lighter.
Writing helps with depression. I notice if I have a lot of thought running in my head, and they’re the sames ones for two hours straight, I can write about it or about anything to express my feelings at the time and afterwards I’m settled a bit more. Writing doesn’t cure depression and anxiety but it can help. Blogging doesn’t help much if typing causes you pain and you’re stressed out feeling forced to write. Fortunately one doesn’t have to be a blogger to write stuff out. Notepads and paper, my friends — or as Dr. Leonard McCoy from Star Trek would say, “stone knives and bear skins.” If you’re depressed, start watching episodes of Stargate SG-1. The television series is much more enjoyable than the movie with Kurt Russel and James Spader. It’s got lots of heart, humor, and smart-talk. I’d been a hard-core Star Trek fan most of my life, but after getting into Stargate SG-1, a lot of the Star Trek episodes are kind of blah to me. I’m kind of depressed about that.
@Seething Inside,
Sorry I missed your comment earlier on, Wordpress forgot to inform me for some reason.
Yes, I agree, it’s nice to have somewhere to vent, especially when no one close to you understands what you are going through.
My sister has recently discovered this blog… bless her :blush:
But it actually could help her too, because like me she suffers from depression and blogs about it… not very frequently though.
Hey, and I’ve just taken a look at your post from 22nd August.
Bet that helped
Well, I hope it did anyhow.
Thanks for visiting
@Andy,
lol! I got fed up with Star Trek long ago. The scenery and the costumes kinda made me laugh too much. but I guess that’s a good thing for coping with depression
Haven’t seen much of Stargate SG-1, it’s not being shown on Spanish TV at the moment (and I miss half of the plot anyway when they do show it, as my brain has to cope with trying to translate the language, which means I miss most of the smart talk, which is the main thing I like about any TV serial).
Like you, I like writing things down as much as typing them. Makes a welcome rest for my eyes. The trouble is, I often then re-type it to publish somewhere or another. There is always a blog of mine somewhere that can take my scribbled down thoughts; I have enough of them!
I haven’t yet posted a blog post as expressive as Seething Inside’s post though. Might just try it sometime soon
zania,
lol Yeah, that was not one of my better days, but thanks for having a look none the less.
i once tried to discuss it with family and got nowhere. rather, my brother “heard” but I’m not sure what he heard as I found a card in the mail from him some weeks later that basically told me that my problems were a result of my not “being right with the Lord”. baptists can be so inflexible when it comes to these things. i think i laughed so hard i cried.