How to Begin Journaling for Your Mental Health
In this article, we will explore what is journaling. How it can help you with your mental health, and ways it can be used effectively within your self-care routine.
Life certainly can feel overwhelming and daunting, we are bombarded with information overload, whether socially, personally, or work-related. External pressures of society add to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. Studies have shown how journaling can reduce levels of depression, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts.
What is journaling
Journaling is a way to express, reflect, and gain insight into your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It can help with mental and physical health, enhancing sleep quality, improving your immune system, and managing chronic pain. It helps you to gain mental clarity and process stressful and traumatic experiences.
There is no wrong way to journal; that is the beauty of it. You can be creative and have lots of fun with journaling, it’s not all about writing. You can draw, doodle, create a vision journal, or whatever suits you and helps you to externalise your inner thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, you can track your progress and see evidence of your journey and how far you have come.
Research suggests it helps you to understand and accept your own experiences, rather than placing judgments on who and what we are.
I often suggest journaling at the very beginning of your therapy journey. It is a way to identify your feelings and why you feel that way. The more you understand your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, the more self-aware you become, and develop a greater understanding of your triggers and the "whys" of what has lead you to feeling a certain way.
Some ways you can journal
Expressive journaling
This is when we focus on our feelings and thoughts on an emotional level, avoiding thinking about the story or what happened, “how did it feel?”. Write as spontaneously as you can, not worrying about spelling or punctuation, perhaps think of it as free-flowing writing. Typically, this would be done for short intervals, say 20 minutes, and over maybe a week.
Gratitude journaling
A gratitude journal can be a great way to maintain your mental health, especially if you suffer from anxiety, low mood, and overwhelming feelings of distress.
Gratitude journaling is the habit of writing down the things we are grateful for. To begin with, particularly if this is a new practice, write down one thing you are thankful for today, it may be waking up this morning, or eating breakfast. Or it could be something bigger, such as passing your driving test or getting a new job.
The purpose of a gratitude journal is to focus your mind on the things you are grateful for, rather than the things which are not so good in your life right now.
Creative journaling
If writing is not suited to you, or you are a creative individual, creative journaling is for you. You can illustrate in your journal with magazine cuttings, calligraphy, or using different coloured pens, pencils, markers, and even paints. Scribbling, creating, and doodling are other means of expressing your thoughts and feelings if you're stuck with writing or can't find the right words. Also, it is another way to practice mindfulness, helping to calm and relax your mind after a busy day, bringing you into the present moment.
Journaling helps with stress management, reducing anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem, self-limiting beliefs, anger management, and behaviours.
I would highly recommend journaling daily. It can help us notice patterns of behaviour, thought processes, increase self-awareness, and, of course, our mental health, leading to an overall improvement, as well as positively altering our mindset.
If journaling is new to you, I would suggest starting by writing a little each day to become used to exploring your thoughts, or you may find it comes naturally to you.
If you need further help and support, please get in touch.