The positive effects of social media (mainly twitter!) on my mental health

The positive effects of social media (mainly twitter!) on my mental health

by | Aug 18, 2013 | mental health, NHS stuff, social media | 0 comments

This post is by @positivitysmile and was first posted on myjourneydowntheroadlesstravelled. Thank you for allowing me to re-post it here – I love how it illustrates some of the ways in which social media can be used to support wellbeing and recovery. I felt like it was important to write about the positive effects of social media on my mental health. Yes, engaging with social media can often have its down sides, some of which I have had recent experience of, but it can also be a fantastic, supportive tool As a survivor of sexual abuse, I have never really spoken properly before with other survivors. I have felt and thought things that I assumed were disgusting and wrong, as well as holding the firm belief that I was the only person in the world to feel such things. However, introducing myself in to the world of social media has meant that I have been able to connect with other survivors. I’ve been able to see for myself that there are other people out there struggling with similar feelings as me. I have found support and understanding, as well as a wealth of useful information via various twitter accounts. For example, if it weren’t for creating an account on twitter, I would never have stumbled upon Kate Swift (@ThisTangledWeb) and the fantastic work she does on This Tangled Web (website). There is a whole host of useful information on the website and her tweets are also informative, motivational and supportive. If it weren’t for some of her specific tweets, I wouldn’t have felt able to dedicate a day for myself...
Are you mad about the madosphere? language, humour and power

Are you mad about the madosphere? language, humour and power

by | Aug 16, 2013 | mental health, PhD, social media | 3 comments

Working in mental health, supporting the national Time to Change campaign, and delivering our own local campaigns to challenge stigma in Leeds, I am hyper sensitive to the use of language in relation to mental health. So when my eleven year old recently announced that the word ‘nutter’ was actually fine because her teacher her said it I came out in hives; and when I hear the word ‘mental’ casually thrown into conversation I tend to break out in a rash. But whilst having an allergy to language which I know can be experienced as hurtful, I also wonder if I get a big uptight about it as well (a polite version of what my family call me when I’m wagging my finger at them). So when I came across the madosphere  – a term coined by The World of Mentalists (TWOM) blog as ‘our affectionate name for the mental health blogosphere’ – I was intrigued and thrilled. It felt like a fabulously transgressive word – one that can only be acceptably used if you’re in the gang perhaps, and one which I would never personally use out of this context. My research focuses on the madosphere, or the mental health blogosphere as I tend to more tamely call it, and in my interviews I’ve been asking people for their thoughts about language in this space. Here are a few examples of what people have said: It’s possible to get too caught up in the darkness that inevitably goes with depression, and some humour needs to be injected, however irreverent it may seem  I think we have to make light of it sometimes in order to take...
#DearMentalHealthProfessionals – Twitter as a learning resource

#DearMentalHealthProfessionals – Twitter as a learning resource

by | Aug 11, 2013 | activism, mental health, NHS stuff, social media | 0 comments

There are all sorts of compelling reasons for health and social care practitioners to use social media, both as part of their professional development and in their day-to-day practice. But yesterday a Twitter conversation around the hashtag #DearMentalHealthProfessionals gave a visceral and powerful sense of the potential afforded by Twitter to be an invaluable learning tool for every mental health practitioner. You can find a storify of the tweets (so far) here. Amanda O’Connell set up the hashtag in the morning and started tweeting messages, from her own experience, to mental health professionals. The conversation grew and spread throughout the day with all sorts of different perspectives – from negative experiences through to appreciation and many in-between. In the NHS we spend a lot of time and effort organising events and groups and activities to ask people for their feedback and help improve services.  And it is important that we do so. But there is something about the spontaneity, the starting point and the ownership of this conversation which provides a most compelling argument for any mental health practitioner to engage with Twitter as a platform to learn, share and contribute. A big thank you and congratulations to Amanda, both for setting up the hashtag and for her encouragement when I asked if I could write a quick blog post about it 🙂...