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A study by Peek et al., (2015) suggests that a positive shine has been placed on blogging in the mental health field as they can help psychiatrists to support their patients by writing directly about issues about mental health.  A blog can be user-friendly and can give a voice to a certain topic that may lack knowledge and support; contribtuing to the issue of stigma. Blogs can help to provide support for sufferers and often include improved accessibility for those in hard to reach populations, for those who simply need convienience or those who wish to remain anoymous. Another reason why Peek et al., (2015) suggest blogs are looked at as a positive thing is that they help to reduce costs and can save psychiatrist’s time.

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Young adults tend to not seek the care that they need as they hold the opinion of mental health services in a negative way, therefore, with the availability of blogs, this allows young adults to seek help from online resources to allow them to feel empowered. With 18-39% of young adults reporting to have written a blog, this provides evidence that people are using blogs to share their experiences of living with mental health problems where they share their attitudes, beliefs and opinions (Marcus, Westra, Eastwood, Barnes, & Mobilizing Minds Research Group (2012).

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https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/blog/mental-health-black-community-still-taboo
This is an example Time to Change blog post

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Mental health is still a touchy subject within today’s society, a lot of people are embarrassed to admit that they are suffering as they will be subject to judgment and discrimination. In 2009 an organisation was created to help those who struggle with mental health illnesses called Time to Change. The aim of this organisation was to inform people that these type of illnesses are common around the world therefore they are nothing to be ashamed of, to promote and support those who have mental illnesses so they do not feel alone and to end the discrimination therefore redefining how people perceive mental illness. Time to Change has a blog that mental health users can access and write on, talking about how they have suffered, offering advice and how they have overcome these illnesses. Through the use of these blogs a lot of users feel more at ease to talk about their issues and are able to feel part of a community therefore as more people are accessing these blogs they are creating more awareness leading to a promotion of mental illness decrease the negative associations surrounding it. (Henderson, & Thornicroft, 2009).

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Henderson, C., & Thornicroft, G. (2009). Stigma and discrimination in mental illness: Time to Change. The Lancet, 373(9679), 1928-1930.

Marcus, M. A., Westra, H. A., Eastwood, J. D., Barnes, K. L., & Mobilizing Minds Research Group. (2012). What are young adults saying about mental health? An analysis of Internet blogs. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14(1).

Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., Marsch, L. A., & Bartels, S. J. (2016). The future of mental health care: peer-to-peer support and social media. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 25(2), 113-122.

Henderson, C., & Thornicroft, G. (2009). Stigma and discrimination in mental illness: Time to Change. The Lancet, 373(9679), 1928-1930.

Peek, H. S., Richards, M., Muir, O., Chan, S. R., Caton, M., & MacMillan, C. (2015). Blogging and social media for mental health education and advocacy: A review for psychiatrists. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(11), 88.

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There are many blogs which provide users with information on how to cope with living with mental health problems and help to redefine mental illness.

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A study from Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch, & Bartels, (2016) found that those with serious mental health issues benefit from using online blogs and interacting with others online to share their personal struggles, strategies and advice on how to cope with mental illness in a day-to-day life. Through this online relationship, these individuals have the ability to challenge the stigma (a mark of disgrace associated with a circumstance, quality or person) surrounding mental health by giving one another hope and empowerment. Through online blogs, mental health service users have more access to interventions when they are recommended by others, which they may find helpful, these are provided through social media on groups or forums which discuss mental health.The importance of peer-to-peer support when discussing mental health helps to reduce the stigma as it provides connections to promoting mental and physical welfare in online groups and blogs.