Blogging as self-therapy?

Abstract

America Online's 2005 survey reported the startling finding that almost fifty percent of bloggers blog as a form of self therapy —a finding that went relatively un-noticed within the psychotherapeutic and psychological communities. Given the rather significant global population of bloggers and readers, and the seemingly intractable problem of mental illness worldwide (according to the World Health Organisation, the global burden of mental illness accounts for more than the burden of all cancers put together), the possibility of blogging as a self therapy deserves greater attention. Research investigating the health possibilities of blogs holds particular promise, at least for those disposed to writing and those working with patients who write. This paper addresses the question of how one might blog as a form of self therapy by constructing a portrait of a research participant blogging as self therapy, based on an interview conducted with the participant in May 2007.