Journaling can be an amazing tool for self-care and mental health.
The beauty of journaling for mental health is that there is really no right or wrong way to do it. Simply grabbing a pen and a notebook to jot down what you are feeling is a fantastic place to start.
There is no need to buy anything new, all you need is a couple of minutes and a place to write down your thoughts.
Your mental journal should include anything that helps you to process your emotions, such as events that have happened throughout the day, things that stress you out, and self-care activities that you have noticed make you feel better.
The special thing about your journaling practice is that it is entirely yours. You can write, draw, or even scribble if you find it to be helpful.
Writing about your experiences can help you process certain emotions. Some people even write letters to their past, present, or future self.
Don’t be afraid to experiment or get creative; no one is grading your mental health journal and there is no way to do it wrong.
Whether you use a guided journal, a bullet journal, or something else entirely, writing tools can help you to kickstart your mental health journey.
If you don’t know where to start, that’s okay too! We’ll give you plenty of ideas to get started in this post.
When you are feeling overwhelmed, the act of writing can feel strange or even impossible, but by keeping your journal both physically and emotionally accessible you can help yourself to write under any circumstance.
Keep your journal somewhere you can access it easily, whether that is in a bag, a bedside drawer, or on your phone. The less digging you have to do for your journal the more likely you are to actually use it when you need it most.
The second step is to keep your journal emotionally accessible, which means approaching your writing without judgment. Don’t set high expectations or complicated themes to bend your entries into.
When you are overwhelmed, you aren’t going to be writing the next great American novel, and that is okay! The best entry is the one that actually gets written down.
Many people find that journaling when they are overwhelmed helps them process emotions, process them, or de-stress and return to the present moment.
Journaling provides many benefits for one’s mental well-being and physical health.
It can be incredibly valuable for any person in any circumstance, especially because it is entirely free and accessible to try.
Some of the benefits of journaling can include:
Studies show that positive affect journaling has positive effects on the brain including improved memory, boosted mood, better sleep, improved cognitive function, and decreased stress.
Positive affect journaling is an emotional expression-focused intervention that helps to regulate stress responses in the brain.
It is also associated with decreased mental distress and less depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Some tips for helping release emotion through journaling include:
One way to start journaling for emotional vulnerability is to start by writing what vulnerability means to you.
For some people, emotional vulnerability might mean expressing feelings they usually keep hidden, like sadness, fear, or joy.
It can involve admitting to insecurities or fears, and sharing personal experiences that may evoke strong emotions.
This openness can feel risky, even when you are only trusting the page with your inner thoughts and feelings.
Some journal prompts for emotional vulnerability that you can ask yourself are:
Emotional detachment can happen when a person is disconnected or disengaged from other people.
They might not engage in deep conversations with others, share their emotions with others, or be honest about their feelings.
Some journal prompts that may help with emotional detachment can include:
For anxiety, you can write down specific things that cause you to feel anxious (triggers), and you can also write down how the anxiety made you feel and what helped you to come out of it.
Do not feel too worried about finding big explanations just yet, most of the time those realizations will come on their own as you write more and identify patterns between your entries.
While focusing on the content you are writing can be helpful, it’s important to remember that the very act of writing when you feel anxious is already helping you to interrupt the spiral of fear you are in.
Writing about anxious feelings may help a person work through anxious thoughts. It also gives them a place to reference, helping them learn more about themselves and restructure anxious thoughts.
One way to journal for anxiety is by simply writing down your thoughts and feelings when you are feeling anxious to help release them or let them off your chest.
Some daily journal prompts to use for anxiety can include:
Journaling trauma can feel difficult because it might bring up some feelings or memories that are difficult to talk about or think about.
There are a variety of different ways a person can journal for trauma.
Some tips to help with journaling trauma can include:
In a PTSD journal, you can write daily entries about your emotional state, physical sensations, and reactions to events.
Include reflections on trauma-related triggers, coping strategies you used, and positive experiences to balance the narrative.
Some prompts that may help with PTSD can include:
Journaling can be a beneficial way to work through overthinking because it forces you to articulate your emotions, face contradictions, find patterns, and even engage the part of your brain that focuses on reasoning.
When a person is stressed, anxious, worried, or just going through a whirlwind of emotions, journaling can help a person organize their thoughts, bring them to the present moment, and release those stressful thoughts onto paper.
You can journal your intrusive thoughts by identifying what the thought is, describing how it makes you feel, questioning if they are honest or helpful, and finally reframing them as fleeting moments rather than something that defines you as a person.
Intrusive thoughts are unwanted and disturbing thoughts that come to mind and can make people feel uncomfortable, scared, or stressed.
These thoughts can commonly occur as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorder.
Journaling can help reduce intrusive thoughts or release some of the stress and discomfort that comes with it.
Some questions you can ask yourself when writing in a stress journal can include:
Gratitude journals and affirmation journals are helpful types of journaling for depression.
A gratitude journal is where a person can record and reflect on things for which they are grateful. This can help with symptoms of depression by reminding them of things that make them happy, worthy, safe, and calm.
Affirmation journaling involves positive statements and self-talk that you can incorporate into your everyday life. Examples of affirmations that people use can include, “you are worthy,” “you are enough,” or “you can let go of anything that isn’t serving you.”
Many types of journaling can be helpful for depression. Sometimes, just keeping a journal and writing in it consistently, daily, or weekly, and writing about your day or how you feel can help with the symptoms of depression.
Journaling may help with dissociation by bringing you to the present moment and increasing your self-awareness.
Journaling can also help you to reflect and remember your experiences, which can help you make sense of the events that may be causing you to dissociate.
Some journaling prompts for depression can include:
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