Sharing my blog with treatment providers came up for me for the first time recently during my inpatient hospital stay. The fact that I had a blog came up during my first meeting with a psychiatrist in ER, as he’d asked what I do with my time since I’ve been on disability.
My psychiatrist here on the inpatient unit asked if I’d be okay with him looking at it, and I responded that I wanted to take some time to think about it. I was thinking that I would share it with him, but then I decided that it wouldn’t help my cause if I ended up having to go ahead with the review panel to contest my Mental Health Act Committal (which didn’t end up being necessary). The question of whether or not he should look at my blog never came up again, but as the half-deaf fill-in doctor last week was flipping through my chart, I caught sight of my blog’s logo, so clearly somebody had found it and printed off a page from it to stick in my chart. At no point had anyone asked me the blog’s name or URL, but I’m very easily findable using Google, so it doesn’t surprise me that someone could track it down (although I am a bit surprised that they would). No one has ever had any kind of follow-up discussion with me about what they found there.
I know that some people do share their blog with their treatment provider(s). I’m not sure if that’s something I’d ever be all that keen on, although I’m not sure how to articulate why that is. Maybe it’s because I like to compartmentalize my life, and things crossing over into different compartments makes things messier in my head. I don’t like the idea of a treatment provider looking at the dialogue going on in the comments; discomfort with them reading that is more the issue for me than discomfort with them reading the posts themselves.
I think that I’d probably feel the need to self-censor somewhat if I knew treatment providers would be reading my blog. With all of you, I don’t feel the need to use much, if any, filter, and I like that feeling of freedom to write whatever I want using whatever kind of language I want.
So those are my thoughts. Now I’m curious to hear from you – have you or would you share your blog with a treatment provider? Why or why not?
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I have been asked but I’m hesitant as there are many lows and I don’t want to be that voice that pushes someone into actions I previously took.
That makes sense.
Thanks for sharing this point. I honestly never would have thought to share my blog with my health/mental health providers. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Thanks! 😊
Sharing my post with my treatment provider shouldn’t be a problem.
The problem should be if the post is connected to what you are being treated of.
You can’t share your post titled “How to treat Maleria” to your treatment provider who is treating you Maleria.
It depends, I think. I might share my blog with my therapist at some point, mostly because she once suggested I send her an email detailing the stuff I’ve been through so that we could jump straight to the meat of it in sessions. I didn’t end up doing that and instead we’ve been just slowly getting to know each other, and she’s just fine with that too. But the blog would be an opportunity for her to read about things we don’t get around to talking about. It’s just a question of whether I’m ready to open up to her about any one thing…after all I don’t trust her a lot yet. Or anyone, for that matter. The blog is different. Hopefully. I just started it. Wanted to stop being so alone, but I have such a hard time with the idea of making friends. I’m still projecting “stay away” vibes with most people, more or less on purpose. Been burned a few too many times.
I hope you are able to get to a place of trust with your therapist eventually.
Me too 🙂 One of these days, I’m sure. Just have to give it time. And I saw that you followed my blog–thanks!
I’m hoping one day to find the courage to share my blog with mental health providers. It would be a challenge and personally I would feel odd at first, but I’ve learned therapists and mental health providers are learning new things every day from those they guide and give advice to. It could be a bridge to new perspectives. I also think it would be easier to open up in the sessions if they did take the time to read my blog as they would already know a little bit of how my mind works. The challenge for me would keep writing as I normally would and not be worried if what I say is going to be taken the wrong way or open the flood gates to topics, I’d rather write about than talk outload about.
Yeah, I think I would have a hard time not feeling a bit constrained if I knew a provider was going to be reading what I wrote. I agree, though, they’re definitely learning new things from us all the time.
Have not shared that I have a blog. Why should they know?
Fair enough!