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Mood Disorders and Mindfulness

February 12, 2020

Why You Should Journal To Lower Your Anxiety

Simply searching for why you should journal to lower your anxiety, sets you up for success. I know it seems like such a cliche at this point but the benefits of journaling to your mental health is outstanding. 

By now, many of you may know that journaling helps to reduce stress, improve mood and increase positivity.  It also helps by improving your IQ, sleep hygiene and self confidence.

However, do you know why? Do you find that when you try journaling you have nothing to say? This is not rare.

Plenty of individuals struggle with journaling and, as an unfortunate result, are not able to benefit from the activity. Let’s start from the beginning shall we!?

Why You Should Be Journaling 

It helps to decrease stress and negative moods by allowing you to be mindful. If you’ve read my previous post you have a good understanding of mindfulness. 

A summary for those of you who haven’t (go read it!). Mindfulness is simply being aware of your needs, acknowledging your thoughts and feelings without a right/wrong judgement. 

With the new wave of self care popularity, journaling piggybacked on it and made an easy comeback. While most of us remember having a journal when we were younger somewhere along the way you stopped. 

Life became too busy, too stressed, and you were too tired to worry with journaling. It is interesting that no one notices how large of an impact this activity had on their mental health when in their younger years. We just have good memories and chuck it up to the fact that we weren’t paying bills at that time. 

This mindfulness activity allows you to label your emotions and relate them to behaviors you notice within yourself. Journaling something positive you noticed about yourself or morning experiences, improves your mood when continuing throughout your day. 

Though you need not journal each day, it is recommended you do so for 15 minutes 1-3 times a week (depending on your life experiences). Write about anything! What may be bothering you or what ever seems to be stressing you out. You could also check out the prompts I have laid out to get you started. 

Why you should journal to lower your anxiety text and girl writing in a note book

What Happens When You Don’t Journal

If you do not journal-or participate in any other mindfulness activity- your symptoms will continue to persist. Journaling helps you “work through anxious feelings” by identifying triggers to the symptoms, plan ways to combat or avoid triggers and implement.

Avoiding to resolve your anxiety can result in stress, continued rumination and-at times- depression. Read here for tips to get stuff done when depressed. Research has shown that individuals who implement use of expression, reported lower levels of anxiety than their counterparts who did not implement use. 

How To Make Journaling A Habit

Now, that you know a few reasons why it is important to journal to reduce anxiety symptoms, it is important to begin forming a mindful habit. It takes 21 days to form a habit and even longer if you do not acknowledge its importance. 

Step One: Get A Journal 

To be successful in creating this habit you must begin by purchasing a journal that fits your needs. There are many different types of journals such as bullet, goal oriented and even prompts with blank sheets for journals. Choose the one that satisfies!

I recommend the Journaling For Anxiety that will help you “have a deeper understanding of yourself, your journey, and who you are at the foundation of your being.” By purchasing you are demonstrating your commitment to clarity and peace within. 

Step Two: Pick A Place, Time And Set Boundaries

Now that you have made your commitment it is important to pick a quiet, calming place for your activity. Choose a space where your creativity can flow and your mind can be clear. 

Set a time during the day where you are limited in distractions and are able to complete your entry. Personally, I choose the very beginning of the day when I know I am in for a stressful moment. However, most times I chose close to the end of my day to ensure I fully reflect on my entire day. 

So you pick a place and time but someone comes barging in with needs or wants! How do you respond? I suggest notifying individuals from the moment you will begin to journal that you need x amount of time. 

In the beginning it may be difficult to set this boundary however you must be consistent. Setting clear boundaries when practicing mindfulness will allow you to identify other areas you may need to set  them for your mental health. Learn what can happen when you don’t set healthy boundaries. 

Step Three: Write, Read, Reflect

Write out your thoughts, emotions and behaviors you have noticed throughout the day. Follow the prompts laid out unto you. What comes next is important!

Read what you wrote. 

After reading what you wrote down, reflect on your words. If it helps, read your entry as though someone else wrote them. What does it seem like the needs are? What is being overlooked that is causing such intense anxiety? 

Step Four: Act

When we know better, we do better. Acknowledging your needs and doing nothing about it, will not wield you any changes. You will continue to stress, have excessive worry, have fatigue, depressive symptoms and…well… the list goes on. 

Do not feel pressured to change EVERYTHING overnight however acknowledge that some things will need to be changed quickly. If you identify there is an individual that triggers negative emotions within you, you must begin to set boundaries with this person. If you identify a lack of sleep for your anxious moods, you must set a proper sleep hygiene to begin to reduce your symptoms. 

Step Five: Affirm

Occasionally, throughout your journaling journey, read back from the beginning. Read your words and be impressed by what you have accomplished. Affirmations are sure to increase the likelihood of you continuing this mindfulness practice and continuing this positive habit. 

Not only will noticing the change within yourself encourage further journaling it will also encourage continued changes. I began by setting boundaries with people to completely avoiding individuals because of the way I felt when I left their presence. I stopped accepting less from myself and began to acknowledge that I could do better so I did!

Now you know why it is important to journal, how to reduce anxiety by journaling, and how to make journaling a habit. Now…time to execute!

Filed in: Anxiety, Mental Health, Mindfulness • by justjess18 • 33 Comments

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About justjess18

Comments

  1. Katie

    February 12, 2020 at 1:36 pm

    I’ve been really struggling with anxiety lately and I know I should really try journaling! It’s definitely one of those things I want to do but then struggle to find time for…

    Reply
  2. Cassie

    February 12, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    I need to journal. I read so many great articles about it! I’m a list maker you’d think it’d come easily enough! I’ll have to check this one out.

    Reply
  3. Kyra

    February 14, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    Journaling has helped to relieve my anxiety a lot, and it’s true that when you haven’t journaled for a long time, the anxious thoughts become overwhelming. Great post. ☀️

    Reply
    • justjess18

      February 16, 2020 at 2:40 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  4. Katherine Isabella Moon

    February 15, 2020 at 2:33 pm

    Journaling is an amazing way to lower anxiety! I’m planning to start bullet journaling soon, and a few things I want my bullet journal to include are my mood for the day, the things I did, and thoughts that came up throughout the day. I feel that this would be a great way to identify triggers and other factors that may make me feel anxious, as well as what makes me feel happy. This way I can try to at least set boundaries on the things that make me anxious or depressed and do more of what makes me feel good.

    Reply
    • justjess18

      February 16, 2020 at 2:40 pm

      This is exactly the kind of goal you want to have to improve mindfulness and reduce your stress! Good for you!

      Reply
  5. That Travel Blogger

    February 16, 2020 at 1:19 pm

    I love this! I keep meaning to get back into journaling but this month I’m going to buy myself a journal and actually start!

    Reply
    • justjess18

      February 16, 2020 at 2:39 pm

      If you need a online version I have a gratitude journal under mental health resources for FREE!

      Reply
    • justjess18

      February 16, 2020 at 9:49 pm

      Yes!!! Do it lol

      Reply
  6. Shana Seigler

    February 16, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    Writing in a journal has been the best therapy for me in regards to mental health

    Reply
  7. Emily

    February 16, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    I haven’t journaled in such a long time, but I remember when I was journaling everyday, it was when my anxiety was really bad and my therapist suggested I try it. It was crazy to journal for a few months and then go back and reflect on what I’d written and see how far I’d come with handling my anxiety, just by writing out all my worries! It really did help with my stress, plus I was able to make out patterns with where I was struggling and then I could see how I could work on it. You’re spot on with your blog post and it’s made me want to get back to journaling! Thank you for the inspiration! <3 And I thought it was helpful to pick a super cute journal to make it more fun and to inspire myself to actually get writing! 🙂

    Emily | http://www.thatweirdgirllife.com

    Reply
    • justjess18

      February 16, 2020 at 9:48 pm

      It’s so refreshing to hear that this post allowed you to reflect and remember the impact journaling had!

      Reply
  8. Natasha

    February 16, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    I love journaling!! This is a fantastic post!

    Reply
  9. Ayanna

    February 17, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    I remember them forcing us to journal in high school but it wasn’t until college that it became a part of my routine. I use my journaling time as an intentional space for prayer. It always helps reduce any anxiety.

    Reply
  10. Katy Makkin

    February 17, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    It’s true journaling helps my anxiety so much!

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth Ervin

    February 17, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    I really appreciate how you broke down these 5 steps regarding the journaling process. This is so helpful. Thank you go sharing!

    Reply
  12. Carmen

    February 18, 2020 at 4:12 am

    I could not agree more. This is so encouraging as I find myself journaling way more as we transition to a new home and life recently.

    Reply
  13. Unwanted Life

    February 18, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    Writing has always been a love hate relationship with me, because I can barely read my own handwriting, and my dyslexia makes that even worse due to my terrible spelling.

    However, when my childhood trauma would keep me up all night, giving me insomnia, and when other emotionally harsh events happened (this was when I had little emotional control over my BPD), I’d just write and write to get everything out of my head so I could better process it all. Which was really helpful.

    I use to just keep a note pad and pen next to my bed to write about whatever was stopping me from sleeping. Sometimes it was my trauma, other times it would be random thoughts, or fragments of poems my mind created.

    It’s been more than a decade since I last did that, and that was all pre-smartphones. Since then, I’ve not really needed to write or journal, as I’ve been able to process and think of how to overcome issues in my head instead, largely due to having great control over my emotions.

    But since taking up blogging, I now keep notes of stuff that could be useful to turn into a post, similar to journalling, in way, but on a note app on my phone, rather than handwriting something. That way I can read what I wrote, edit it easier, make additional notes, and I always have it with me.

    Basically, it doesn’t really matter if you use an app or a physical journal, if writing about events, situations, triggers, your emotions, etc might help you, do it, and find a way to do it that works best for you.

    Reply
    • justjess18

      February 19, 2020 at 2:53 am

      I totally agree! You have to find what works for you and use it accordingly.

      Reply
  14. Bumbles

    February 18, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    I’ve tried journaling it works better when I don’t have to fill in every day because I can’t get into that habit of journaling or I feel pressured in having something interesting to say but I can see the point from a personal growth angle.

    Reply
  15. Zoriana

    February 18, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    Great post. Journaling really is a great form of self care

    Reply
  16. Lia Mara Dospetti

    February 18, 2020 at 9:56 pm

    I do journal, but I’m not constant in my journaling activity. On some days I just don’t want to look inside and “be with me” (happens when anxiety is too much or I feel depressed or drained). But maybe doing it more often will only turn out to be beneficial. I’ll bookmark your post in my browser as a reminder. Thank you so much! ^_^

    .Lia.

    Reply
    • justjess18

      February 19, 2020 at 2:52 am

      I can see how it could be difficult to reflect on things from your day. Being able to identify those triggers and avoid them or combat could aid in managing anxiety as well.

      Reply
  17. Snow

    February 19, 2020 at 12:16 am

    I definitely consider this confirmation. I used to journal all the time and it helped me so much. I stopped journaling consistently quite some time ago and need to pick it up again, for anxiety, spiritual, and mental needs. Thanks for sharing your pointers in getting started again. I hope I’m able to make it stick!

    Reply
  18. Lisa Alioto

    February 21, 2020 at 8:31 am

    Great article – journaling is so therapeutic. I just wrote a similar article about it. LOVE IT

    Reply
  19. Ashley

    February 21, 2020 at 9:56 am

    I love this. Journaling has helped me with my anxiety.

    Reply
  20. Emily Adams

    February 21, 2020 at 12:13 pm

    I used to journal or write in my diary almost every day, and now I love having those memories of details that I would otherwise forget. Your post was a good reminder that I would like to get back into doing that, and as an introvert, something I think that will help me work through my emotions.

    Reply
  21. Amanda Kerr

    February 21, 2020 at 3:07 pm

    Great read! I should start back up again. Blogging has been my way of “me” time and it’s pretty much my diary. But journaling is great for the mind!

    Reply
  22. Tiffany

    February 23, 2020 at 1:49 am

    Note to self, I need to start doing this!

    Reply
  23. Sarah

    March 5, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    Journaling is an excellent thing to do. I do it almost every day and usually, it’s just a mind dump but sometimes that leads to me suddenly talking about my mental start and it’s quite relieving to get those things out of my system and onto paper. Sometimes it also gives me a sudden realization that my mental health isn’t as good as I thought it was. It’s really helpful.

    Reply
  24. Savannah

    March 6, 2020 at 4:31 am

    Great post! This is an excellent guide and resource for someone like me, who has always wanted to journal but never knows exactly how to start. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  25. Bryony Baker

    March 11, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    I think journalling could benefit me so much, It’s something I need to start dedicating a little bit of time to x

    Reply
  26. Dasia M Pollard

    March 17, 2020 at 3:17 pm

    I love this post. I have GAD and I write in my journal to somewhat calm myself down. It really helps a lot. Especially when I’m at work. (high stress level environment)

    I created a mental health & lifestyle blog and it would be really cool if we could work together some time!

    xoxo

    Reply

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JESS

JustcallmeJess

As a licensed social worker working in an adult community mental health center in the South, Jess seeks to spread awareness and educate those who may otherwise never gain mental health information.

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