Darn! I knew it! I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now and it makes me feel good - I feel, at time, compelled to to do it and it feels good - even if it does consume a lot of time (it also adds a lot to me). I can also attribute much of my professional success of late to activities that originated or sprung out of blogging.
And the post I saw at Bloggers Blog titled Blogging May Have Psychological Benefits says as much.
“…The research, from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, found after two months of regular blogging, people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who didn’t blog.”
“…All respondents, whether or not they blogged, reported feeling less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months of online social networking.
“So going onto MySpace had lifted”
The study focused on MySpace users only, and surveyed 600 users; there were two studies actually and the first looked at the psychological states of those who intended to blog vs. those who actually did blog.
Those who intended to blog didn’t get as much out of it as those blogged (seems obvious) and I’m not sure it’s the first study is really so much about blogging or not as following through with what you intend to do - or not.
However the second study (as yet unpublished) says that if you blog, it’s good for your mental health, it relieves stress, it helps your disposition. I believe that.