What is Journaling?
Do you remember the time when you were keeping a diary under your bed? This is where you write down everything that is happening to you, from your struggles and fears to your secrets and crushes. And it felt good releasing everything in that diary of yours. This is the same with journaling. You may have stopped writing in your diary as you grow older but the benefit of writing never changes. You can start now by journaling. Journaling is a simple activity that can turn out to be greatly beneficial for anyone who practices it. This is the practice of keeping a journal or any notebook where you write down and explore your thoughts on the events that are happening in your life. It has been proven by numerous studies that journaling has significant mental health benefits and improves a person’s quality of life.
Importance of Journaling on Mental Health
Reduces Depressive Symptoms and Anxiety
Depression and anxiety are mainly accompanied by negative thoughts. In one study by Smyth, Johnson, Auer, Lehman, Talamo, & Sciamanna (2018), journaling improves mental health distress and well-being; it also lessens depressive symptoms and anxiety after 1 month of practicing it. With journaling, it allows you to bring out these negative thoughts through pen and paper. You can freely write down your fears, feelings of sadness, or anything else to process them and learn to respond to them in a healthy way.
Can Help in Dealing with Trauma
It has been proven in a study conducted by Burton and King (2008) that writing down personal trauma and positive life experiences, even just for 2 minutes a day can lessen health complaints. It shows that a person can recover more quickly from traumatic events. Writing down your thoughts and feelings allows you to process what happened. Through journaling, it also allows you to confront the negative things in your life that you face and accept that you are no longer in control of what has happened already. You’ll have the time to face and process these things instead of avoiding them.
Recognize Triggers and Learn How to Handle Them
By journaling every day, you get to know yourself more. You’ll learn your negative and positive habits, what triggers your fear, anxiety, or feelings of sadness, and eventually, you’ll know what the most effective ways are for you to deal with them. Yes, it may be easier to find online or ask a friend what are effective ways to deal with negative triggers in life, but not everyone has the same process of dealing with things. That is why it is important that we get to know ourselves better through journaling.
What to Write in Your Journal?
- You can either ask your therapist for questions to reflect on in your journal or search for writing prompts online.
- If you’re up to the mood of not following any prompts, you can just vomit out your thoughts or frustrations, and then, below your frustrations, write everything you’ve already written, but from a positive or different view.
- Write down how you would reassure yourself as if you were a different person, similar to how you would reassure your friends.
- You can also challenge your thoughts by asking yourself why you are feeling this way and how you can improve.
- You may also journal your goals and dreams and how you can achieve them.
Journaling is just one way of having a healthy lifestyle. There are also other ways of managing stress, dealing with anxiety, trauma, and feelings of sadness, and other mental health conditions. You can also include having enough sleep, practicing these self-care tips on managing stress, and seeking therapy from a mental health professional.
Shirley Therapeutic and Consulting Services, LLC is a diverse therapy clinic that can meet the needs of anyone. If you’d like to talk about your own or your family member’s mental health, feel free to message us here or refer us to them.
References
5 science-based benefits of journaling. Holstee. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.holstee.com/blogs/mindful-matter/5-science-based-benefits-of-journaling#Journaling_Can_Reduce_Depression_and%20Anxiety.
Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2008). Effects of (very) brief writing on health: the two-minute miracle. British journal of health psychology, 13(Pt 1), 9–14. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910707X250910
Journaling for mental health. Journaling for Mental Health – Health Encyclopedia – University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1.
Smyth, J. M., Johnson, J. A., Auer, B. J., Lehman, E., Talamo, G., & Sciamanna, C. N. (2018). Online Positive Affect Journaling in the Improvement of Mental Distress and Well-Being in General Medical Patients With Elevated Anxiety Symptoms: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mental health, 5(4), e11290. https://doi.org/10.2196/11290
