Four Tips For Writing About Mental Health

Mental health is a trending topic. Increasingly more people are becoming aware of mental health issues and are looking for articles online to help a family member, friend or themselves.

Blogging about mental health is a great way to help others if you have had struggles with your mental health in the past. Many businesses offer services that can have a positive impact on their customers’ mental health. This is especially true of the sports, holistic, arts and health industries. If that applies to your business it’s well worth advertising because increasingly more people are looking for services that benefit their mental health in addition to other areas of their life.

If you’re looking to convince potential customers that your services can improve their mental health, these steps will help you to write a promotional blog post that will convert to sales.

Research lots

You can still write about mental health even if you don’t struggle with any mental health issues. However, if you’re writing about how your services can help with depression, for example, and you have never experienced the illness, you’ll need to research the illness thoroughly. Most mental health issues are extremely complicated and there’s a lot of cliche and incorrect advice out there. Anyone who has experienced the illness you are writing about can absolutely tell if a writer has done their research. Lack of research can lead to an unconvincing article and no sales. 

So where can you look for accurate and useful research? 

1. Mental health charities such as Mind have accurate and up to date information on most mental health conditions and are a good place to start for an overview. Mind also has case studies - articles and videos from people who have mental health issues - on how these issues affect them in their daily lives. It’s important to know what your potential customers are up against and how you can really help them.

2. Look for articles written by psychiatrists and psychologists - the experts in the field. Make sure it’s a recent article as research into mental health is moving along at a rapid rate. In 2019, anything from 2012 onwards counts as recent.

3. Talk to people you know personally who have experienced mental health issues. Most people who have struggled with their mental health in the past want to help others and will be willing to talk to you. Your best bet is actually your current customers - ask them if your services have made a positive impact on their mental health. You’ll find out specifically how your services have helped people and you’ll also gain testimonials that will help you to advertise your services.

Be specific

​There are many conditions and illnesses that fall under the umbrella term of mental health issues. Let’s look at depression again as an example. Depression is a common illness, however, there are many types of depression. The main two are: situational depression - depression caused by life circumstances and stresses such as bereavement, redundancy or divorce - and clinical depression - depression caused by chemicals in the brain not working properly. The two main types of depression are very different from each other and what works to help situational depression often won’t make much of an impact on clinical depression; therefore, it’s necessary to be specific with the type of conditions your services can help with.

Quote reputable sources

Linking to or quoting articles to back up your writing can give your article credibility and it also builds trust with your audience. Linking to relevant articles shows that you have taken the time to do proper research. For those in the sports, arts and holistic industries, there is a wealth of research and psychological studies online for you to reference. Psychology Today is a good source and searching in Google Scholar will bring up relevant medical research.

Include your own experiences of mental health issues in your article

​Readers are looking for trustworthy sources and experts in the field. If you have experienced anxiety or depression, for example, that makes you somewhat of an expert in those fields. Readers are drawn to people who are open and honest, especially potential customers with mental health issues who may be considering using your services. Unfortunately, mental health issues are still very stigmatised. People are often afraid of how others will react if they know or find out that they have current or past mental health issues. When you write about your own struggles, potential customers know that you are not going to judge them and they will feel confident about using your services.