In today’s day and age, we all know the pros and cons to technology use. Technology helps us in many ways to use scientific advances to treat health issues, helps us stay connected to family and friends and being able to utilize technology in productive and efficient ways at work. Too much technology on the other hand can cause stress and imbalance at work and at home. For Mental Health Awareness month, I wanted to share some ways in which we can use technology to our advantage to help increase our awareness and understanding of mental health and resources to help cope with a variety of mental health related concerns including anxiety, depression, stress, sleep, motivation, trauma and more.

  1. Online Assessments: Stress, anxiety, and the pressures of day-to-day life affect us all. Sometimes those pressures can negatively affect our happiness and disposition, our relationships with others, our job satisfaction, and even our feelings and beliefs about ourselves. A voluntary and anonymous questionnaire is designed to help you assess your current state of mental health and well-being. Here is an example from psychology today.
  1. Apps: “There’s an app for that!” There seems to be an app for just about everything these days and mental health apps do not disappoint. See our resources below in this month’s newsletter for a comprehensive list of apps from meditation and mindfulness to mood trackers and sleep monitors.
  1. Podcasts: There are many great podcasts available where you can learn more about mental health related topics. Here are a few to check out:
    1. Mental Illness Happy Hour
    2. All in the Mind
    3. The Psychology Podcast
  1. Blogs: Many individuals who struggle with mental health related issues will tell you that having a support network is a huge part of coping. Knowing that you are not alone with how you are feeling helps to normalize and connect to others. Blogs are a great way to either process your own feelings in writing or read someone else’s experiences that may be similar to your own and establish a platform for communication and dialogue. Here are some mental health blogs to explore:
    1. The Mighty -https://themighty.com
    2. Rethink Mental Illness -https://www.rethink.org
    3. Purple Persuasion -https://purplepersuasion.wordpress.com
    4. Time to Change – https://www.time-to-change.org.uk
    5. MQ-https://www.mqmentalhealth.org
  1. Websites: Ted Talks are a great educational platform to hear professionals and individuals share their experiences either working in the mental health field, or discuss their own experiences related to mental health. https://www.ted.com/topics/mental%2Bhealth Other great websites include https://www.nami.org and https://www.psychologytoday.com/us
    By: Melissa Major, MHC-LP