I’m guessing that you’re reading this post in a feed reader, and this is one of many blogs that you subscribe to. I’m always looking for new, helpful, funny or interesting blogs to try, and I’m sure you are too. Here is a list of my favorites. Please add yours in the comments!

My Medicated Cartoon Life.
This has been my favorite blog for over 2 years, but sadly it’s slowing to a crawl. Perhaps the Bitter Animator has less to be bitter about. I hope so. I also hope he continues to share his life in new (and old) ways. In the meantime I might snap up another t-shirt!

My favorite in waiting is Dilbert. I’ve spent a good chunk of my life in a cubicle. Dilbert is a daily reminder of what I now miss.

Mental Health – Beyond Blue.
Therese Borchard is a prolific writer. I can’t keep up with the pace but I read regularly, and the posts are always fresh, original and helpful. Something to make you laugh, cry, or nod your head and say “Yes!”

Humor – Andy Borowitz.
“Obama to Iran: Abanon Nukes or We’ll Defriend You on Facebook”.
The headline alone is worth subscribing for.

Sport – A Cultured Left Foot.
I’m an Arsenal tragic. There are lots of good blogs, but this one brings intelligent insights to a fairly unintelligent game. (If you live in the U.S., Arsenal is a soccer team.)

Productivity – Empty.
There is a space in my feed reader reserved for a good productivity blog. I like MakeUseOf.com but it feels like a placeholder.

Design – Smashing Magazine.
The standard is very high. Most posts are interesting and remind me of how little I know.

Self-monitoring – The Quantified Self.
If you’re into self-monitoring then the enthusiasts are here. People are monitoring all kinds of stuff, using some amazing, inventive methods.

Please add your favorites and why they make your list. Don’t plug your own blog!

Unfortunately the number of communities online, in this particular “space”, are few and far between. More importantly there is always more room for us to help one another, break down barriers, and engage with the world.

There is a site called Divinest Sense that has just launched, which looks like it could fill a good chunk of this vacuum.

The following text is a contribution from Meg LeDuc, the founder and co-ordinator of the site. Please take the time to read it and visit the site.

“I’m creating an online journal/blog called Divinest Sense as a forum for people with mental illness to express themselves through poetry, personal essays, fiction, and graphic art. I believe this site will break down barriers, both between people with mental illness, who are often very isolated, and between people with mental illness and the larger world. In such a forum, I believe we can demonstrate the richness of our lives and our community through creativity, a force people with mental illness so often turn to in order to make sense of themselves, their illnesses, and their place in society. Furthermore, I think that, by starting this forum, I will simply have the great opportunity to showcase some beautiful and profound art. 
 
Contributions will be published on the blog associated with Divinest Sense. That will give writers and artists the immediate gratification of being able to share their work with everyone on the web. I am considering taking the best of the blog and publishing a more traditional online anthology that may come out every several months (provided I get enough contributions). My plans for this journal are still in the early phases.
 
For those of you with mental illness who have hesitated when it comes to really stepping out into the larger world, this could be the opportunity for you to be a pioneer. I understand the drive to isolate ourselves that we with mental illnesses often feel, but don’t give in. The world will only be enriched by our dynamic presences, by our unique creative voices. Live confidently. Live largely.

For more information on the project, check out Divinest Sense . A full explanation of the project is posted there. There is also information about me. Most importantly, there is also a link to the blog. Check out the first entry! It is a powerful poem by an advocate for people with mental illness who is in recovery from schizoaffective disorder-bipolar type. 
 
So please, write, paint, draw, take photographs, engage in art, and submit the results to Divinest Sense! If you have questions or would like to submit something, contact me at divinestsense.media@gmail.com
 
- Meg LeDuc”

by Ian Bullock

This article spoke volumes to me. Much joy can be found in giving to others and the snippets of contact we have with strangers.

“The woman sitting opposite me on the #4 Powell bus is wearing a leather bomber jacket and stylized Armani glasses. Her fingers are crossed over the wooden handle of a corduroy shoulder bag. The words “PURL” and “KNIT” are tattooed across her knuckles in the same gothic lettering that Tupac Shakur used to tattoo “OUTLAW” on his forearm. I’m about to talk to someone who is, apparently, a gangster knitter.”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

by Atlantic Free Press

“Some people eat when they are not physically hungry. I know; I’m one of them. All the studies in the world about hunger and satiety triggers will not do a thing for me. Where are the studies about the psychological need to eat? We seem to have studies on the psychological need to not eat, or to purge what you’ve eaten. But overeating seems to be a matter of ruthless genetics or lack of self-control to the doctors and scientists dealing with fat people. ”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

by I Trust When Dark My Road

“The whole process…has really gotten me thinking about the process of managing information, and what that means for mental health. If you’re like me, there are a thousand things going through your brain at any given time. I run around putting out fires, trying to stay one step ahead of disaster in all of the spheres or realms that I operate. Church, home, school, opera, DOXOLOGY, Higher Things, and who knows what else.”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

by The McGill Tribune

From the executive director of USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion: “People tend to use food to maintain a good mood, or to regain a good mood if they’re in a bad mood. They use different foods to do this…Now what we’ve found is if they’re in a positive mood, they’ll tend to eat things that are more meal-related, and there’s generally more nutrient depth…but in negative moods, they tend to be more caloric and convenient snack foods.”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

from Psych Central

“We thought we’d acknowledge some examples of outstanding online mental health and psychiatry journalism in 2008. You might argue with our broad interpretation of “journalism,” but we believe that writers or producers who can bring new insight, analysis or understanding about mental health concerns or significant issues in the fields of psychology and psychiatry are worthy of inclusion.”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

No sooner did I link to the New Scientist article yesterday than Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, posted his own hypothesis on the benefits of pet ownership. Scott Adams is my favorite “thinker”, even though I rarely agree with his viewpoint. But this article is an interesting, probably valid, partly tongue in cheek, take on the relative benefits of cats and dogs and the relevance of age.

From Scott Adams:
“One of my mental hobbies is concocting hypotheses that I hope someone else will test. Today’s hypothesis involves the health benefits of pet ownership.

It is common wisdom that owning a pet makes you healthier. Interestingly, the group that does NOT get health benefits from pet ownership is older people “in a community”, according to one study.”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

by New Scientist

“Who needs children when a puppy can provide a similar emotional experience? After playing with their pets, dog owners experience a burst in a hormone linked to infant care, not to mention romantic love and friendship, new research finds.

Nicknamed the “cuddle chemical” and the “love drug”, oxytocin has been found to dampen stress, combat depression, and breed trust in humans.”

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

a film by Richard M. Patricia

“It is my feeling that “Strive For Happiness” would be very helpful to individuals who are caring for loved ones to remind them that they are not alone, for individuals entering the mental health field to enable them to see the individual as a person, and to the public to help them better understand mental illness and to eliminate the stigma that attaches to mental illness. The film really demonstrates how the understanding of a loved one goes a long way on the path to wellness. In addition, it helps to show that it is important to continue to love the person suffering from mental illness in their new form.”

Quote from Debra L. Wentz, Ph.D., CEO
New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web