THE BENEFITS OF BLOGGING A Personal Journey by Aimee Wilson
ABOUT AIMEE
Hello lovely people! My name is Aimee Wilson, I’m 25, and I am an online mental health blogger. After years of hospital admissions because of my mental health disorder, I was finally admitted to a specialist ward around 300 miles from home, my mum, my friends, and everything I knew. During my admission, I began trauma therapy and decided to begin blogging as a way to document my journey for myself. Somehow, it became very popular and now has over 136,000 readers! I love blogging and I feel incredibly lucky to be offered amazing opportunities off the back of its success and my hard work. Visit imnotdisordered.blogspot.co.uk, if you would like to read my blog.
ABOUT THIS FIXERS PROJECT
For my Fixers project, I wanted to help other young people who have faced similar issues to me. Blogging has been hugely instrumental in my recovery and has helped me to maintain my mental health. It is my hope that this resource will highlight the positive effect blogging can have, and motivate others to feel confident enough to blog and hopefully benefit from it in the same way I did.
WHY I DECIDED TO BLOG
I started blogging to educate readers about mental health and my experience of Borderline Personality Disorder, and to help reduce the stigma attached to the condition. The blog documented my recovery journey, and whilst it was initially something for me to do, I found that I really enjoyed it. It helped me to organise my thoughts and make sense of my feelings and actions. The people who were supporting me during this difficult time found they had a much better insight into the condition after reading my blog.
THE SECRET TO GETTING AHEAD IS GETTING STARTED
BENEFITS OF BLOGGING
Blogging has had a number of positive outcomes for me. From my own experience, I have included a list of positive benefits blogging could have on you. PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS • Confidence boost • Sense of achievement • Sense of pride • An opportunity to reflect • A place to record all of your thoughts
PHYSICAL BENEFITS • Income via commissioned events, sponsor ads • Improved skills, e.g. in IT, writing • Communication with likeminded people • Increased social circle • Career opportunities • The opportunity to participate in projects • relevant to your content
DRAWBACKS OF BLOGGING
However, there can be some drawbacks to blogging you should be aware of. It comes with it’s own set of responsibilities and you may face criticism from some people if you decide to write things about yourself. These include: • • • • • •
The struggle of gaining followers in the early stages of blogging – the point where most people give up Maintaining it once you’ve built a following Forever needing new and better content Finding the time to maintain it Negative comments that are often personal criticisms Feeling like you constantly need to be checking your stats, making changes, planning new posts and checking social media
Allow yourself to be a beginner
No one starts off being excellent
INFORMED DECISION
In my opinion, it is important to make an informed decision before starting your blog. Make sure you consider all the pros and cons before beginning, refer to the previous if you need some guidance. Weigh each of them up and consider the effect they may have on you. If there are drawbacks, but you still want to blog, then consider ways you can overcome them.
FOR MORE INFORMATION time-to-change.org.uk youngminds.org.uk nhs.uk/Livewell
DISCLAIMER
This booklet reflects the views and experiences of a young person and should not substitute for formal or professional advice.
IT’S NOT ABOUT IDEAS, IT’S ABOUT MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN
This booklet was created by a young person from Northumberland who wants to highlight how blogging helped her deal with mental health issues. This project has been produced with the help of Fixers, the campaign that gives young people a voice. Fixers is part-funded y by the National Lottery, through the Big Lottery Fund. Company 2194957. Charity 298643 Š 2016