5 Best Mental Health tips for you!

Humans have always had the need to tell their stories. That’s no different in the blogging world either. Writing about our experiences is often a very therapeutic experience. This can be especially true when dealing with mental illness. Here are a few of our favorite blogs about mental illness and mental health.

NAMI Blog
The National Alliance on Mental Illness blog features topics on racism, COVID-19, and trauma. NAMI is a national organization that provides mental health support and resources. They also work to educate and empower those living with mental illness to live fulfilling lives.

NAMI’s blog also reflects current events and how they shape our mental health. From a recent post written by a black woman experiencing anxiety during National Black History Month: “Naturally, I get excited when I can talk about my personal experiences to help people understand the bigger picture. However, as I started to write a title for this blog, I could feel my heart rate rise, my hands begin to jitter on the keyboard, and my chest tightening… I only recently started speaking out about generational trauma, racism, and being Black in America because, at times, the anxiety and fear can be too much to bear.”

Time to Change
Time to Change isn’t just about blogging. They are part of a social media campaign to reduce the stigma around mental health and encourage honest conversations. Each blog post is written from a personal experience and includes categories on depression, anxiety, bipolar, and more. This is a great resource if you’re looking for a community.

Blurt
Sometimes, the best way to talk about depression is just to blurt it out. The team at Blurt knows this, and that’s why they’re encouraging you to talk about it. They’re a social enterprise dedicated to creating positive change, and they want you to know that they’re here for you.

From a recent blog post on active listening versus just hearing: “As with everything else in life, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ method for an effective conversation and we can’t assume that someone isn’t listening to us based on a generalized idea of what active listening looks like. Through getting to know people, we will learn how they prefer to communicate and we’ll learn to spot when they’re hearing, and when they’re actively listening.”

Bipolar Burble
Natasha Tracy is a writer and social media consultant who has been blogging about her bipolar diagnosis since 2003. She’s written multiple books about the subject, though she readily admits she is not a licensed professional. Still, mental health isn’t limited to just professionals.

Her blog topics range from talking about mental illness stigma to exaggerated emotional pain due to depression. “What I’ve noticed is that depression exaggerates emotional pain from other sources,” she writes. “For example, if you break up with your partner, depression is going to make you take it much harder than you otherwise would. Even something simple like a misunderstanding with a friend can feel like the end of the world with depression.”

The Mighty
If you want to hear more stories from people facing the same mental health issues you do, the Mighty is a good place to start. More than 5 thousand writers have contributed to their articles on issues like supporting a friend with PTSD or dealing with mental health issues around the holidays.

We particularly enjoy this article on mental health permission slips. Contributor Megan Griffith writes: “Basically, mental health permission slips are designed to give you permission to feel or think or do something that your brain is otherwise telling you is “wrong.” It helps if these permission slips come from an authority, like a therapist or someone going through the same thing you are.”