Twitter and What I Found There

ClkerFreeVectorImages. "Twitter Bird". 8/4/14 via pixabay. Creative Commons CC0.

In this post I'll be discussing the feeds of different twitter accounts pertaining to the profession of psychiatry.

1. Many of the feeds seem to be discussing mental health and illness, and the stigma that surrounds it.  They also seem to have an emphasis on help anyone can get to overcome things like addiction, depression, even help parents can get for children with OCD. They also promote talks given by scientists, as most of these feeds come from the psychiatry field of esteemed universities.

2. The two best psychiatry feeds I found can be found here and here. They are feeds for the psychiatry component of Columbia and Yale respectively. I liked these conversations because they talk about the help psychology majors can give to the world and don't sugar coat services that different people from different walks of life may need. Speaking as someone who's mental health has had rougher patches, I can understand the side eye you get when you tell someone that you're going to counseling appointments. I also happen to be an advocate for the idea that mental illness is no different than physical illness and should be treated as such, so I can appreciate what the people and doctors in these feeds are advocating for.

3. What I found was better than what I expected and I've left this research with a greater respect for my desired field. I've realized how open these feeds and people are about the help and resources that they offer, and additionally the intellect that they share through scientific talks and forums. It's reinforced in my mind that the purpose of psychiatry is first and foremost to help people, which feels like a very noble thing to me. I want to be a part of this now more than ever.