18 Benefits Of Therapeutic Journal Writing And How To Start Journalling

For those not familiar with journal writing, let me start by summarizing what a journal is: “A journal is a written record of your thoughts, experiences, and observations.”

That’s pretty broad, and that’s fine.

Some people like to say it’s like an adult version of a diary, but I feel that’s a bit simplistic and also somewhat dismissive.

To most people, a diary is more a record of events, whereas a journal is typically a lot more than that – it’s almost a record of who you are as a person.

It’s also becoming more and more popular – which probably explains why what started as a noun (i.e. the item in which you write) is now being used as a verb (i.e. as shorthand for “journal writing” or “writing in your journal”).

The fact is, people journal for all sorts of reasons (e.g. creative types like writers may record inspirations or ideas for their books, or to practise their writing skills), but this guide is going to focus on the therapeutic aspects of it – e.g. why does it help, how often should you write, and how can you do it.

BENEFITS OF JOURNALLING

Altered Perceptions

When you step out of your anxiety or depression and concentrate or focus on writing down what actually happened or how you really felt (as best as you can recall, of course), it can throw an entirely new light on matters.

You may understand, for example, why you reacted the way you did to something – maybe you realized there was another way of looking at events – and that can help you release negative emotions or even forgive somebody (including yourself).

Appreciation

No matter how bad your day might have been, if you dig deep enough, you can probably come up with a few things that you are grateful for.

Writing these down (which is sometimes known as gratitude journalling) is a reminder that not everything is bad.

These things you record don’t need to be huge either.

While there are usually things such as being grateful for having a roof over your head you can use, it is better to try to vary the items from day to day, because if this becomes an automatic activity where you write the same things every day, you won’t get the full benefits of recording what you’re grate for.

Comprehension

It has been said that you don’t really understand something until you can explain it simply to somebody else.

With the process of journalling, you’re undertaking a highly private activity, so it’s unlikely you will be discussing your thoughts and feelings with anybody else.

But your journal acts as a surrogate listener. It won’t respond to you, of course, but the very act of carefully choosing what words to use before you commit them to paper does actually help you to better understand things.

Decision Making

Too many people make spur of the moment (or, at least, ill-considered) decisions on matters that merit more attention, but when you’re depressed, for example, your ability to think things through will be diminished.

So, if you have an important decision coming up, you can use your journal to record all of the advantages and disadvantages of each available option, to help you choose wisely and make a decision you are less likely to regret later.

Family Heirloom

You may not feel like sharing the contents of your journal right now, or even while you’re still alive, but just think about all the valuable life lessons that may be in it – problems you’ve faced, how you overcame them, how you turned your life around, things you would do differently, etc.

Wouldn’t this be a great thing for your kids to read, when the time is right for you and them? And couldn’t they use some of those lessons for themselves and their family?

Growth

Once you’ve been journalling for a while, you can start to notice a change in yourself, for the better in most cases.

Maybe your attitude is improving, or you’re accomplishing more things each day, or you have become more forgiving, or certain things don’t stress you out like they used to.

The fact you can see positive growth can then act as a motivation to continue improving yourself.

Healing Qualities

Even though delving deeply into your mind so you can fully describe your thoughts and feelings may be uncomfortable at the time (e.g. because you may have to confront things you’d rather not), it has been proven that this is a valuable route to healing. For example, it can relieve stress, by getting things out of your head and on paper.

It Puts Things In Context

Even when you’re not suffering from anxiety or depression, life today often flashes by far too quickly – so quickly that it’s hard to stop and make sense of it all.

This sense of being out of control is, of course, exacerbated when you have a mental health problem.

Journalling can help you sort out where everything fits in, what was important and what wasn’t, and what you did that day that moved you forward.

Learning

How many of us take notes in life – not in the classroom, where we often have no choice in the matter, but because we want to?

Not many, I suspect.

And yet that’s another benefit of journalling – we can take notes about things of value we have learned.

Perhaps you learned that doing one activity made you feel worse, while something else made you feel better; or maybe somebody said something that was thought-provoking and you don’t want to lose that little nugget.

Memory

When you suffer from mental health problems, especially depression, then you can spend your days in a sort of fog – everything blurs together, and remembering specifics is difficult – and that’s because depression can affect your memory.

But if you write down what happened during the day – in as much as detail as you can, but the more the better – then you will be able to return to your journal (e.g. the next day, or even months from now) and read about what happened.

This may be a case of confirming you did something you were meant to do, or it may be a way of recalling pleasant memories (e.g. a family day out before you were depressed, or maybe you had one of your “better days” recently and you want to relive that experience).

Mindfulness

Let me start by offering two definitions of mindfulness (which are taken from my free report, “Using Mindfulness To Enhance Your Life”:

1. “The intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment” – from “Mindfulness meditation for substance use disorders: a systematic review” Substance Abuse 30 (4): 266–94
2. “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

In practical terms, mindfulness is simply paying attention to your environment, activities, and thoughts.

So, why is this important?

Well, research shows that there is a strong association between being mindful and being happy.

Writing in your journal about your experiences that day, and paying attention to how you feel, and the thoughts that are in your head, right now, shifts your focus away from your anxiety and helps you be mindful.

Motivation

Most people have some sort of goals, and these are usually very different to the goals of people with anxiety and depression, who mainly just want to get better.

However, you should try to think about your goals for after you are free from your anxiety or depression – what do you really want to do, or who do you want to be?

These can act as motivators, so you have something you passionately want to do that will be fulfilling to look forward to.

Organization

Given that people suffering from depression, etc. can have a hard time remembering things, one benefit of journalling is that you can use it to record your To Do list (e.g. household chores, people you need to call, bills you need to pay, medical appointments).

Personal Time

Life today is hectic, especially if you have family or even a job to go to, and many people don’t get the opportunity for personal time, where they can focus on just themselves.

But the fact is, we all need some solitude on a regular basis (e.g. to unwind, for contemplation), even though it may be difficult to squeeze that into our days.

By allocating time each day for journalling, you are not only gaining the benefits of writing in your journal (as explained in this guide), but also the benefits of having some alone time.

Questioning Things

One of the ways that humans learn is by asking questions – and, of course, finding out the answers, either by being told them or by researching.

As a child, I was always being told I asked too many questions, and I know I’m not alone in that. But even when I was young, I wondered how you were meant to learn anything if you didn’t ask those questions.

When you write about your thoughts and feelings, you can start to dig deeper by asking questions, such as “Why did I feel that way?” or “What triggered that thought?”

And that’s when learning happens – as long as you are honest with yourself.

Revealing The Real You

As you write your thoughts, experiences, and feelings in your journal, and explore what those mean and what might have caused them, you cannot help but uncover aspects of yourself that you either didn’t know or didn’t want to admit were present.

For me, when I spent a few days on vacation one year writing down everything I could think of about my depression, it helped me see what a horrible person my depression had turned me into, and consequently that I had to change because I didn’t like that version of me and I knew it wasn’t the real me.

Self-Awareness

By detailing your thoughts and feelings, and the reasons for those thoughts and feelings, you will gain a better understanding of what makes you tick.

Stress Relief

Most of these benefits revolve around recording well-chosen words that record experiences and explore your thoughts and feelings, but sometimes, a different approach may be needed.

While the above can be helpful for relieving stress – the simple act of writing down how you feel can be very therapeutic – there is another method that may be exactly what you need when you feel stressed out.

It’s an approach referred to as “stream of consciousness”, where you write down whatever comes to mind. The choice of words doesn’t matter, it doesn’t need to be particularly coherent or in the correct chronological sequence, it may seem rambling, and you shouldn’t be editing what you write as you go – because the entire point is to do a “brain dump” of everything that’s on your mind regarding the stressor and how you feel about it all.

This can also be a great way to let out stuff you wish you’d said to somebody face-to-face, for example, but were either too scared to, or unable to think of at the time (a massive problem for introverts such as myself).

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU WRITE IN YOUR JOURNAL

Most people recommend that you write at least once a day, preferably shortly before bedtime, as that is the best opportunity to reflect on what has happened that day, and how you felt about it, etc.

Doing it this way will allow you to put the entire day in context.

There is nothing, of course, to stop you from journalling throughout the day, depending on your situation (e.g. if you’re at home, great, but in the office, that might be tricky). Some people prefer to journal in the morning, although personally, even though I’m probably more of a morning person, I think evening time would be more beneficial.

And even if you don’t do a full journalling session, you can always records brief notes regarding things you want to write in more detail about later on (e.g. things you saw, things people said, ideas for getting better, hobbies you’d like to take up).

HOW TO JOURNAL

The main decision you need to make here is the medium – will you use some type of electronic device (e.g. a computer, tablet, smartphone), or will you go “old school” and use pen and paper?

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, of course.

For example:

• Electronic devices may be more portable and accessible – you probably already carry a smartphone with you anyway. It may also be faster and more legible. On the other hand, what if your battery runs out when you need it, or you dropit and it breaks?
• Paper-based journals may be bulkier and less secure (e.g. you can password-protect electronic devices and documents). However, no technology is involved, so there’s nothing to fail, and not everybody can write fast and legibly (including me – even slowly and legibly is a challenge).

The one crucial factor, though, is the fact that research shows writing by hand is generally a better approach.

For example, it engages your entire brain and increases comprehension.

This may not be welcome news, especially with younger people, but studies also show that handwriting can help relieve anxiety and depression – but only if you write using cursive (i.e. joined up letters, also known as script or longhand). Print, or block script, where each letter is written separately, does not, unfortunately, offer the same benefits.

This is apparently because the rhythm that cursive writing offers helps relax your brain.

The next question is how you’re going to organize your journal, and this applies, in slightly different ways, to both media.

Here are a few things you should consider:

• Will you have different journals for different things (e.g. one for To Do lists and goals, and then one for your experiences and feelings and thoughts)?
• If you’re going the old school route, will you use a book format or a loose leaf binder format? The latter is more flexible, of course, but typically bulkier.
• Will you use colour-coding to help you quickly see what type of journal entry it is (e.g. green for things your grateful for, red for stress dumps, orange for feelings)? These colours could be dividers in a binder, or maybe different colours of pen or marker.
• How will you keep your journal(s) private? After all, they will contain some incredibly personal things, including information you wouldn’t want others to read. So, electronically, you should consider password protection and/or encryption; and for paper, hiding them may be an option, but a more secure way would be to have somewhere you can physically lock them away, such as a filing cabinet, or even a small safe.
• If you’re going to use an electronic solution, will you use generic software such as a word processor, or will you look for software that was designed specifically for journalling?
• Will you record the date (and time) of each entry or not? (Yes is the recommendation.) And if so, can you easily find entries from a certain date (which is, of course, likely to be more appropriate for electronic journalling solutions).
• How long do you want to allocate to journalling each day? You can either keep going until you’ve written everything you want or need to (if you have the time to do this, of course), or you could set aside a specific amount of time (e.g. 30 minutes) and get down as much as you can during that time.

OTHER THINGS YOU CAN JOURNAL ABOUT

Once you get into the habit of daily journalling, don’t feel you should only record information related to your mental health problems.

Here are a few other suggestions:

• Things you love (e.g. people, activities, colours, art, music, sports, clothes).
• Things you need to let go of in your life (e.g. physical items, attitudes, activities, people).
• Quotations that make you think (e.g. that you read in a book, or heard in a movie or TV show).
• Books you want to read or movies you’d like to watch.
• Foods or recipes you’d like to try.
• Places you’d like to visit.
• Your bucket list items.
• People you’d like to meet – and why. Maybe even write down the questions you would ask them, and if you want to get really creative, you could even try to come up with possible answers.
• Creative writing, such as poems or short stories (or ideas for those you can develop later).
• Doodles, sketches, or cartoons.
• Projects you want to start (e.g. DIY around the home, including gardening, creative projects, restoring an vintage car, volunteering at the local dog rescue).

If you want other ideas, you’ll find plenty of what are known as journalling prompts if you do a quick search on the Internet, and there is also an article on the subject on this site (which also addresses some of the issues covered here, although in less detail in many cases).

Conclusion

There is a lot to consider here, in terms of the many benefits for those mental health problems, and options for how you journal.

With hindsight, I think it would have been very useful to me when I was depressed, but I’d never heard of this back then. (I did actually do a very specific type of journalling, as I mentioned – and I found it incredibly helpful at clarifying my thoughts and pointing me in the right direction.)

If you’ve never tried journalling of any type, I would definitely suggest having a go – because not only might it really help you, but you may even find you enjoy writing. I’ve heard it can actually become addictive! 🙂

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. A Great Selection Of Journals
2. Bullet Journaling For Anxiety
3. WordSmith Deck
4. Writing Through The Darkness