The Impact of Blogging on Your Mental Health

Dear reader: How are things in your world? If I asked you, “Are you okay?”, how would you respond?

You probably know May is Mental Health Awareness month. First recognized in 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month is the result of Clifford W. Beers, founder of Mental Health America. The objective is destigmatizing mental illnesses and raising awareness on suicide, while drawing nationwide attention to psychological disorders and the communities that they affect. 

I began blogging back in 2008. I started The Devotional Guy™ at the end of 2013. Recently, in light of the focus on mental awareness that May brings, I wondered what impact blogging has on our mental health.

Through doing some research, I learned that blogging can have both positive and negative impacts on our mental health. Several factors like the nature of the content, a blogger’s motivations, and the responses from the audience play a role in the impact blogging has on the mental health of a blogger.

As an avenue of self-disclosure, blogging offers us a chance to express our emotions, engage in self-talk, and organize our thoughts (Tekniker & Cheung, 2023).

Positive Impacts

As a form of emotional expression, blogging allows people to articulate their thoughts and feelings. This can prove to be therapeutic.

We all yearn to belong. Blogging creates a sense of community by connecting bloggers with their readers and other bloggers who share similar interests or experiences. This helps foster a supportive network.

Writing regularly promotes self-reflection and personal growth. This helps people process their experiences, developing a clearer understanding of themselves in the process.

Successfully maintaining a blog and receiving positive feedback enhances self-esteem and provides a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Negative Impacts

It is worth noting that the impact of blogging isn’t all positive. There can be negative drawbacks. The pressure to constantly produce content and maintain an online presence may lead to stress and burnout. This is especially true if the blogger feels obligated to meet certain expectations or standards.

Unfortunately, not everyone who reads your blog is for you. The internet is rife with trolls. Repeated exposure to negative comments, criticism, and online harassment adversely affects mental health, potentially increasing anxiety, depression, or reducing self-esteem.

Another side effect of blogging is the menace of comparison. Constantly comparing yourself to more successful bloggers can foster feelings of inadequacy and jealousy, negatively impacting your mental well-being.

If all that isn’t enough, to top things off, sharing your personal information online can compromise your privacy, making bloggers vulnerable to identity theft and other malicious security risks. This can increase stress.

Balance and Moderation

Moderation and balance help bloggers, like you and me, mitigate the negative impacts of blogging and accentuate the positive ones. We can adopt certain strategies to help us, like the following:

Setting Boundaries: Establishing clear boundaries regarding the amount of time spent on blogging and the types of content shared can help maintain a healthy balance. Sometimes you need to unplug and recharge. Other times, you need to prayerfully consider what personal information you are sharing on your blog. Authenticity matters. But people don’t need to know everything and they certainly don’t need to know all the intimate details.

Seeking Support: As I mentioned earlier, we all yearn to belong. By identifying and engaging with a supportive community, we can find support from our blogging friends. If the negativity gets too much, seeking professional help can also prove beneficial.

Focusing on Authenticity: Life is full of fads. Focusing on creating authentic content rather than simply following the latest trends can make our blogging experience more fulfilling and less stressful.

In summary, while blogging can be a powerful means for self-expression and community building, it’s essential for bloggers to remain mindful of the potential downsides and take proactive steps to protect our mental health.

Maintain healthy relationships and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Praying for us.

You are loved.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

References:

Imge Tekniker, Rebecca Y. M. Cheung, et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health (April 2023), Do Bloggers Have Better Mental Health? The Social, Cognitive, and Psychological Benefits of Blogging in Emerging Adulthood

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10138563/