There’s been a lot of talk about blogging vs. journalism in the past, discussing whether bloggers compete with journalists or not, and what kind of relationship there can be between the two.
Personally, I think the relationship between blogging and journalism is more or less a clear one, in that they complete each other, and can hold one another accountable.
Another interesting thought though is blogging vs. psychiatry.
A lot of people are using their blogs as a space to vent, unload and just get things off their chests. They talk about their everyday lives, their problems, their highs and lows, almost everything. And it makes them feel a lot better to be able to do that.
They also get genuine feedback from readers who comment more or less because they’ve started to care for this person in one way or another.
I can’t but compare this kind of blogging to a session with a psychiatrist, after all, he just asks you to talk about what’s annoying you, your life, …etc and he tries to analyze it and give you some feedback that could be of some help to you.
The difference is that with blogging you’re not limited to your one hour session, so you can say all you want to say, when you want to and just like you feel it. You’re also getting genuine feedback from people who care a lot more than your shrink does, because in the end he’s just doing it for money, they’re doing it because they want to.
And of course you’re saving yourself a lot of money.
I wonder if there are any psychiatrists out there who have thought of this and who have felt even a bit threatened by blogging.
Of course, blogging can’t solve everyone’s psychiatric problems, after all psychiatry is a science and takes years of studies and practice to perfect, it just has some therapeutic effects that could help some people with some specific problems out.
In fact, I don’t see why blogging can’t complement the work of psychiatrists in some cases and be one of the things that they advise some of their patients to use.
Of course I expect royalties for my idea from both the psychiatrists and blogging services 😉
You know what? You’re absolutely right. My business card should convey that I am a blogger in addition to being a freelance psychiatrist and a gonzo journalist.
Either that you’ve never been a psychiatrist, thus the embarassingly rookie remark that you’ve said, or that you’ve never been a patient to one (well, at least that’s good news for you, aint it?).
It’s not in shrink’s job description to listen to your pointless blabber endlessly. And if it were a really good shrink, sessions wouldn’t even go near blog- blabber.
Heck, come to think about it, maybe you’re the kind of person who’d do anything, even pay people, to listen to you talk about yourself.
No wonder I have such a massive writer’s block these days..
Adjacent, well if you read what I wrote well enough you’ll see that I made sure to say that blogging can in no way replace psychiatry because that is a science that needs years of studies and practice to perfect.
I just think it has some good therapeutic effects that shrinks can maybe use with some of their patients.
And yes, I’ve never been to a psychiatrist, but I do know some people who have been to one, and well he does ask and listen to them. Maybe it’s not the same stuff they write on their blogs, but still venting is good and relieves of some of the stress.
Personally, I don’t use my blog to vent or talk about my daily life, but I’ve seen many bloggers out there who do that, and I think it does them well.
I stand corrected.
I’m sorry if I have offended you, clearly I’ve missed plenty of what you really meant.
And being an obsessive-compulsive writer myself, I do agree with your notion that writing is therapeutic, although there is a big chance that the terribly absent-minded comment I’ve made on your writing may indicate my own inclination to visit a shrink sometime soon.
Ciao.
No offense taken 🙂
It’s great to have you here, and I hope to see and hear from you more around here 🙂
Adjacent, that’s a nice come-back. You don’t see people like you around often who ‘stand corrected’
To answer this post, i do share your point and i believe a psychi’s job requires venting, the more feeling or information is released the better assessement he can do, blogging is about telling everything and anything, it can be a simple form of journalism, as well as a daily bitching even the express of hate or joy. These do help the mindset doctors.
Helllo, I think blogging, journalism, and psychiatry/psychology are all interdependent of eachother in some form or another. What I mean is John Doe with Bipolar disorder needs to read articles about BP, take meds, get emotional therapy in a CONTROLLED environment, and then feel part of a support group. See? There is a role for everyone. Mental illness requires a large support network for the patient, and we are lucky to have more channels to help people get help, and feel loved in this big great competitive survival mode world we tend to live in.
Helllo, I think blogging, journalism, and psychiatry/psychology are all interdependent of eachother in some form or another. What I mean is John Doe with Bipolar disorder needs to read articles about BP, take meds, get emotional therapy in a CONTROLLED environment, and then feel part of a support group. See? There is a role for everyone. Mental illness requires a large support network for the patient, and we are lucky to have more channels to help people get help, and feel loved in this big great competitive survival mode world we tend to live in.