Benefits of Journaling for Mental Health
“Writing in a journal reminds you of your goals and of your learning in life. It offers a place where you can hold a deliberate, thoughtful conversation with yourself.” Robin Sharma
What are the benefits of journaling for mental health? Your mental health is an amazing part of what makes you as a person. It plays a vital role in your overall well-being and the relationships around you. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above everything else, guard your heart (mind). It is where your life comes from.
Oftentimes, we get so caught up in the physical aspects of what’s on the outside and forget to take care of the inside. Exercising our brain consciously and subconsciously is an important factor when improving one’s life and creating a healthy state of mind as we age.
Keeping any type of journal will help with improving your mental health. However, if you really want to tackle a specific problem you’re having, it’ll help to determine the right type of journal to keep. Keeping a particular kind of journal may work best for your issue.
* Boosts Your Mood – If you really want to boost your mood, keeping a gratitude journal is where it’s at. All you have to do is once a day, preferably before bed, write down what you’re grateful for today. It might not seem like much but it’s very powerful for going to sleep, thinking positively about your life. Here’s a quote by Alan Cohen, “Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will go unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything. This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.”
*Increases Your Sense of Well-Being – As you write out your thoughts, you’ll start seeing issues from a new angle just because you’re opening your mind to think about it. This is going to make you feel more capable of dealing with whatever happens.
* Lessens Symptoms of Depression – Understand that depression is something different from sadness and that you likely need a counselor. Writing it all down can make it seem less horrific so that you can feel better. Plus, you can look back at days you thought life was “over” and see better days after.
* Reduces Anxiety – The problem with anxiety is that it was designed to help us get away from immediate danger. It triggers the “fight or flight” response. If each time you have that anxious feeling you choose to write in your journal how you are feeling and why, you’ll start to control it better.
* Lowers Avoidance Behaviors – Many people who have mental health issues practice avoidance behaviors such as not going to places that cause them anxiety, or not doing the things they need to do due to how they feel. When you write it out, it helps you get the feelings out but does the thing anyway.
* You’ll Sleep Better – Pouring your heart out into a journal is a great way to get things off your chest. However, for sleep, go to the gratitude journal and write down what you’re thankful for today and go to sleep thinking of that.
* Makes You a Kinder Person – Exploring your own emotional state and accepting your own feelings while you work through what makes you who you are in your journal is going to make you naturally more empathetic to others too. Letting go of judgment for yourself improves your thoughts for others also.
* Improves Your Memory – This is almost a situation where you want to say “duh” but it has to be said. Writing down things helps you remember them because you can go back and read them, but also because the act of writing something down enables you to recall it.
*Helps you organize thoughts that are cluttering your mind– For example, you may have a lot of ideas that you don’t want to forget, so you keep mulling them over and over in your mind. If you write your ideas in a journal, you can come back to them later. This will free your mind to focus on other things.
So there you have it, the benefits of journaling for mental health. One thing that can really help you make your journaling work is to learn how to keep one effective. Make some journaling rules that work for you, for example, write in your journal whenever you feel anxious or experience emotions that need to be processed. Also, you probably want to keep it private unless you have a therapist and would like for him or her to see it or you decide to use it to help others. This is for you and only you for the most part.
Custom-designed Journals. Did you know Zazzle offers journals and notebooks that you can customize for yourself or to give as a gift to a friend or family member? https://LoreneBiz.com/ZazzleJournals
Did you know Amazon offers free Kindle Books? Follow this link to find some to download: Free Kindle self-help books