Top 50 Mental Health Blogs

Mental health isn't exactly a topic we discuss everyday. We may even take it for granted. Without a doubt, it's certainly easier to ask, "Hey, how's the knee today?" than, "How's that mental health going?" Nevertheless, we are dramatically affected by our mental well-being every second of the day.

In our search for the most helpful and inspiring blogs about mental health, we brought together a community of social and emotional support that strives to reach those suffering in silence, those who are professionals and care providers who want to help others, and mental health advocates who are working to create greater awareness about mental health issues. We think you will find our list of the top 50 mental health related blogs to be enlightening and informative; the bloggers offer tons of resources, personal histories, articles, and commentary. You'll find topics ranging from parenting and child development to weight control and procrastination as well a most serious of topics: suicide prevention.

As we all navigate through life's challenges and surprises, it turns out that blogs like these can be a great help. The vast field of psychology offers a kaleidoscope of possibilities for addressing the topic of mental health and the disorders that can occur. We hope you will be as fascinated as we are by the many discoveries presented in these blogs, thanks to psychology research and to all of those willing to share their life stories for the greater good of healthier minds.

Top Five

  1. The Situationist: This stellar blog is a cutting-edge must-read for for anyone interested in finding out what the top minds are saying about research on how human behavior is shaped from a social psychology perspective. You'll learn from scholars about how and why our unconscious choices are unwittingly made and influenced. What are the cognitive factors behind what we buy, how we assess and relate to strangers, or and even what laws we implement? Read on.
    • Why We Love It: We love this blog because it will sharpen your mind with each visit. Through videos, timely research, and clear and compelling articles, this blog -- which is associated with Harvard Law School's "The Project on Law and Mind Sciences" -- will be your top resource. You'll experience vibrant discussions that examine the practical application of social psychology and all its mysteries relating to almost every aspect of our modern culture.
    • Favorite Post: The Situation of Kissing
  2. Coping with Life: Based on the Jersey shore, Tom Davis is an award-winning columnist, author, and professor at Rutgers University where he teaches a course on media as it relates to mental health. His blog features outstanding guest contributors and focuses on mental health and family issues. His first book, "A Legacy of Madness," released in September 2011 is subtitled "Recovering My Family from Generations of Mental Illness."
    • Why We Love It: We appreciate Tom Davis's talent and passion for compassionately exposing the tragic realities of mental health disorders that are passed down through generations. Here is sad story of his own family of which he is the fifth generation. We selected this blog because it's inspired by a personal backdrop we find compelling, dramatic, filled with hope, healing, and forgiveness. His advocacy for fairness in the media regarding mental health issues is singular.
    • Favorite Post: Coping with Stereotypes
  3. Explore What's Next: Founded by clinical psychologist Dr. Aletta, this is a beautifully written, first-rate blog. It has up-to-date articles that incorporate real life as well as fun topics such as her commentary on Tina Fey's" four rules that will change your life," from her book "Bossypants." She believes that providing a community is the "Holy Grail" of blogging, and that's why she loves doing it. It's like "sending a message in a bottle," she says, -- it can pop up again anywhere!
    • Why We Love It: We love this blog because it so incredibly practical and doable. Always current, there's something new nearly every day with topics that cover mental health and mind/body topics in an easy, readable style. Dr. Aletta writes many of the entries; her original, one-on-one style is personal and makes sense immediately. You'll find over 120 intriguing blog articles that address having a healthy mind. Check out her video entry on "What is Anxiety? The Fight/Flight Response." On location with her horse (a paint mare) she explains how our evolutionary, biological roots produce a physical reaction to stress. Then what? She offers tips on how to think through the anxiety. Hmm, it seems to be working ...
    • Favorite Post: Why 3 Positive Thoughts + 1 Negative Thought = Misery
  4. Laura's Psychology Blog: Join the "other" Dr. Laura -- Dr. Laura Freberg, a professor at California Polytechnic State University -- in her lively and fun blog about everything new and interesting in the world of psychology. Definitely conversation starters, her constantly updated collection of in-the news findings offer insight you won't find anywhere else. So how does the color red affect us, and why? What are the benefits of holding hands? There's even dieting secrets. This is all the very latest research, readings, and studies that she shares from her brilliant perspective as an expert in psychology.
    • Why We Love It: Laura Freberg is a true teacher at heart, and this is definitely why we love her blog. Her exemplary academic life included studying with a world-renowned faculty at UCLA in the '70s, and her ever-curious mind was nurtured as she sat "in awe" of fellow psychologists. Today after authoring two text books, she continues to teach inside the classroom and out (meaning "us") through her blog. She seems to understand how to make neuroscience fun (which it is), and also discerns what topics will tickle just about everyone's fancy when it comes to learning how the brain works. It's a total approach that we appreciate on many levels. And by the way, she even shares her favorite recipe: beef stroganoff, "an ancient recipe" that calls for both red and white wine. Cheers!
    • Favorite Post: Does eating give you pleasure, or make you anxious?
  5. The Happiness Project: Gretchen Rubin is familiar to many because of her appearance on "Oprah." She's actually an attorney turned author of several books, the first of which was a bit of a parody on self help books. But her last book, The Happiness Project and her blog of the same name speaks to us for our purposes here. It's practical, it's doable for the most part, and it's not the usual self help drivel we may be used to. The full title of her book exemplifies her blog: "The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun."
    • Why We Love It: We love Gretchen's blog because when it comes to mental health, sometimes just getting moving, although certainly not a "cure," (as in "just snap out of it"), does resonate. We think this site serves as a perfect companion to the rest of the blogs on our list. So is this just more positive thinking? We don't believe so. It seems that Gretchen "gets it" on many levels, and her philosophy can at least be a starting place, regardless of where we are on the happiness/mental health spectrum.
    • Favorite Post: Finding happiness: 5 happiness boosters that actually do more harm than good

The Rest of the Best

  • A Journey: Blogger Susan writes from her perspective as a survivor of child and marital abuse. Her effort through therapy to finally be free of medications has been a journey she describes as empowering and full of hope. "No labels" is her motto; support for others is her mission.
  • Behind the Facade: Written by a university student and young lady living in Australia, this is a blogger who struggles with mental illness accompanied by "a fair amount of cynicism" as she describes it. Her hope does prevail, as she describes art therapy as being useful for expressing oneself.
  • Bloggers Unite: This is a blogging community site that is important as a resource for raising awareness for mental health causes. We appreciate the very important forum it provides for suicide prevention on a global basis.
  • Health Blog: It's the Wall Street Journal and it's news you can use, every day when it comes to health issues of any kind. It offers excellent analysis of the healthcare industry and issues related to mental health care.
  • Letters from the Asylum: Here is an edgy and modern blog written by a self-described "Generation X poster child." He describes his problem of being unable to screen out noise and light, causing him to be "sensory defensive."
  • Sonya's World: A husband writes this blog that describes how he and his wife were "blind-sided" by her mental illness diagnosis. He offers an honest and candid journal about what it's like for family members who are faced with such a challenge.
  • The Thoughtful Parent: As a new mother Amy Webb devotes her blog to providing research-based child development information. Presented in a readable style, this PhD wants all parents to have access to what's available to scholars.
  • A Little Piece of Me: Based in Liverpool, England, this blogger likes to "doodle" drawing throughout her personal blog about counseling and therapy.
  • Blogging Behavioral: Dr. Sandy Andrews, a clinical psychologist strives and succeeds in her blog is to share her her fascinating perspective "from across the couch."
  • Child-Psych: This is definitely a go-to place to learn from a pro about all of the latest research and current issues concerning parenting and child psychology.
  • Civil Rights in Psychiatric Hospitals: This blog takes up the cause of advocating for the rights of those staying at inpatient facilities. Blogger Jonathan Dosick believes that clinical care is misunderstood, and he strives to bring greater awareness about the civil liberties of those being treated in the mental health system.
  • Clinically Clueless: An anonymous blogger offers frank description of his journey with mental illness and therapy for over 20 years, besides working in the mental health field. This is an "enter with caution" blog in that abuse and violence is described.
  • Coming Out Crazy: Sandy Neiman creates a "safe haven" with her virtual blog community where she encourages safe and honest discussion. She has a wonderful entry about her experience with Murphy, her therapy dog.
  • DavidBransfordMD Blog: This is a slick blog written by Dr. David Branford, a Minnesota psychiatrist interested in many topics including the breeding of psychiatric service dogs for special needs children and adults. He describes himself as being very skeptical of the pharmaceutical industry and managed health care.
  • Dr Stephanie: Dr. Stephanie writes her blog "though the eyes of a psychologist." Based in Colorado, she is a practicing clinical psychologist. Her advice for parents? "Turn off the technology, (iPad, phone, laptop) and tune into your kids."
  • Dr. X's Free Associations: Well, we don't really know who Dr. X is, but we love his "free associations." The commentary about current events and celebrities from a psychological perspective is amazing. Plus, there is a collection of vintage photos, each one telling its own story. Be sure to check out this interesting blog.
  • Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog: Gary Schwitzer is an independent expert who review news stories about health care issues. This is a classy, top-rated blog with no ads whatsoever. He is an advocate for fair mental health reporting. Topics often involve bioethics, medicine, and drugs with articles that offer sophisticated analysis.
  • GoodTherapy.org: The purpose of this blog is to advocate against therapists who misuse their power. Good therapy is a therapy directory of therapists worldwide who subscribe to a collaborative approach to therapy and a vision for social change in the field of mental health.
  • Hope for the Flowers: Stephl, who is based in South Africa, is a 20-something young worman who has been struggling with what she terms the "black dog" as well as anxiety disorder; it has been controlling her life since childhood. It's a beautiful blog, and it won "the stylish blog award." It's filled with hope and lots of photos of kittens.
  • How to Juggle Glass: A PhD student studying in the UK writes this blog from the point of view of one who has had "severe and enduring" mental health problems since his early teens. His purpose is to reach out to others who may be in a similar situation.
  • HP BLOG: Healthy Place blog states that one in five Americans has a type of mental illness in any given six months. The purpose of the blog is to provide comprehensive information about almost everything related to mental health: news, tests, online networks, to name a few.
  • If You're Going Through Hell Keep Going: Susan is a blogger and writer who struggles with bipolar and agoraphobia. This blog is both popular and sobering when it comes to expressing the realities of coping on a daily basis.
  • In the Room: Chris Allan, a clinical psychologist, hosts this blog. Its focus is to reflect and comment on psychotherapy as it occurs "in the room" rather than merely in a theoretical sense.
  • Lawyers with Depression: Daniel T. Lukasik is an attorney who experienced depression as an isolating experience. Books and online material didn't help. He created his blog to specifically address and support practicing lawyers who are struggling with depression.
  • Maternally Challenged: Author Tracy Thompson's book, "The Ghost in the House: Motherhood, Raising Children, and Struggling with Depression," serves as a backdrop for this self-explanatory blog. She says both sardonically and seriously, "The kids can't drive you crazy if you're already there."
  • Mind Freedom: Mind Freedom is an organization that has adopted the mission of protecting human rights in the mental health system. Here you'll find a number of links to blogs that cover issues related to mental health care reform.
  • Multifarious Miscellany: This is a free-flowing style blog that is subtitled, "confessions of a suicidaholic." The writer shares her "musings' about her daily life living in Pennsylvania with her husband and two dogs.
  • Notes of a Psychology Watcher: Dr. Steven Ceresnie has been a practicing psychologist in various capacities for over 35 years. He posts a running list of mental health articles on his very active and current blog. He reviews articles with authority and vigor.
  • Phil's Boring Blog: Phil is a British blogger who advocates for disability support for the mentally ill. His posts offer news from a regional perspective concerning economic issues and mental health.
  • Postpartum Progress: Honored by many awards for being one of the best parenting and mental health blogs, Postpartum Progress was founded in 2004 by Katherine Stone.
  • PsycCritiques blog: PsycCritiques is an excellent source for psychology students to find very current information from a searchable database that includes book and film reviews on every conceivable topic in the field. The comments posted on various topics, (i.e., are children best left with their biological parents?) are in depth and knowledgeable.
  • Psychminded.co.uk: This blog is a comprehensive mental health guide of sorts that has updated news and commentary as well as personal stories such as those about caring for a mentally ill child, what it's like to be in a psychiatric ward, and what it's like to be diagnosed with personality disorder.
  • Research Digest: Published in association with the British Psychological Society, this is the place to go for the latest summaries of psychology research and journals. The purpose is not to repeat popularized mainstream media articles, but to offer authoritative reports on studies that are new or may have been overlooked.
  • Rock, Paper . . . Shut Up: This writer describes herself as being a wife, a stay-at-home- mom, bipolar, and a lesbian. She makes it clear that she does not consider her bipolar diagnosis as "something wrong with me," but rather a catch-all phrase that allows her to communicate with others who share common traits and challenges.
  • Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia: This was named the Best Nova Scotia Blog in 2011 and is a Top Blog Schizophrenia award winner. The articles are somewhat technical in nature, and the site offers professional opinion pieces as well as news-related articles.
  • Seaneen Molloy: Seaneen subtitles her blog, "The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive Blog," and writes about "how to be normal in the real world." She discusses her ambivalence about the possibility of becoming a parent and her observations of others who have done so who lived with similar mental disorders.
  • Serial Insomniac: The author of this blog is a young woman from Northern Ireland who was diagnosed as a teenage with clinical depression and later, with borderline personality disorder. She writes about her own struggle and hopes to dispel the stereotypes and stigma that she believes "permeate society."
  • Soulful Sepulcher: A blog written by a mental health advocate who expresses strong opinions and links to articles about pharmaceutical companies and drug safety information.
  • Sugar Filled Emotions: Writing about her life with depression and diabetes as well, this blogger writes to help others. Check out her "power of positive words" list. She suggests building a "positive word bank," to draw upon. Her list is alphabetical and begins with "acceptance, awake, alive, brave an beauty." She realizes that she has made good progress and that she is "braver than I ever gave myself credit for."
  • Teen Mental Health: This blog discusses how parents can make a difference and that kids do have a chance for getting better with appropriate intervention. This is a wide-ranging resource for understanding mental health targeting families and teens as well as educators and health professionals.
  • The Raising Socially Anxious Children Blog: This writer and mother of a daughter who struggles with social anxiety is striving to create understanding about this condition. When it seems like the child may be defiant, it's really based on fear, she explains. Providing resources for parents and a way to connect, as well as fighting the associated social stigma are her goals.
  • The Therapy Buzz: This writer describes life as being on a "therapeutic journey" with stories and thoughts about living with medication and striving for acceptance.
  • When Everything is Black or White: A young woman who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder who was also adopted, writes this blog. Adoption was not a positive experience for her, and she discusses how this along with her disorder has affected her life.
  • White Hot Truth: Danielle Laporte is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and business woman who designed her blog to reflect her motto: "because self realization rocks." She offers her own personal advice, guidance, and inspiration.
  • Your Mind Your Body: Here's your chance to learn from 13 licensed psychologists who are members of the American Psychological Association. As authors of this blog, they offer information on relationships, being in therapy, weight issues, and aging, to name a few topics covered. They do not offer therapy or treatment of any kind, but do present from the first-hand experiences a most valuable perspective.

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