Journaling for Mental Health
Should I even bother? - In short… yes!
I know — at this point, everyone and their dog has been asked, “Have you considered journaling?” by some well-meaning person. And many of us (people and dogs alike, I’m sure) have managed to squeeze out an “oh… sure…” through a barely contained grimace-turned-smile — while desperately trying to keep our eyes from rolling back into our skulls.
Because let’s be honest, the quiet part is usually, “Have I considered journaling? Of course I have. Do I actually do it? Absolutely not.”
Unfortunately for us all, those well-meaning people (one of whom is often yours truly) keep bringing up journaling because… it actually works. Take it from me — a clinically certified, mentally ill icon and a provincially certified RSW and psychotherapist with a journaling practice of my own — there really is something to this stuff.
What is journaling?
Journaling is really any writing practice that you might have or develop that helps put your thoughts down on paper! Journaling can be on the computer, on your phone, or the good old fashioned pen and paper.
Journaling can also be freeform, supported with journal prompts, and as long or as short as you choose.
It doesn’t have to start with “Dear diary,” but it sure could. You could even channel your inner high-school English teacher and craft a full-blown narrative in which you analyze and interpret all of the symbolism, metaphors used to trace the deep twists and turns of the literary masterpiece that we call life.
Or, you could just jot down a few messy, half-thought sentences in the Notes app on your phone. Either way, it counts. The point isn’t how you journal, it's that you give yourself the space to get things out of your head and onto something else.
What can journaling do for me?
Journaling can provide the perfect outlet for non-judgement, and processing through externalizing thoughts and emotions. Have you ever had some thought or feeling just stuck in your head, and felt that sweet relief of finally getting to blurt it out loud to another person?
Journaling can be that person.
In a more structured way, journaling can provide you with a real record to track your thoughts and feelings. This is a helpful tool when it comes to noticing patterns in thoughts, behaviours, and actions (whether they be healthy, or not so much so). We may then want to take those healthier patterns and plan to replicate them, or figure out how to adjust our approach. This might be a way as well for you to identify and address triggers in people, places, or things, and for us to hold ourselves accountable to our very own wants and needs.
Journaling can also be messy. For those of us who tend to like to write between the lines, journaling offers a chance to get creative – don’t write in full sentences, have a few pages just filled with different writing styles of your favourite expletives repeated over and over, turn pages sideways or upside down! Sometimes, it can be good to test the boundaries of your anxious perfectionist tendencies and journaling may just be the safe and confidential space to do that.
A personal note on journaling:
Journaling has been part of my own wellness practices on and off for several years. ADHD will always have me leaning toward forgetting the practice altogether, but I will eventually always notice when the habit has fallen off. The clues are usually an overall feeling of heaviness, my thoughts racing, my head feeling full of so many random thoughts and somehow none at all at the exact same time. That’s how I know it’s time to lean back in.
One of my favourite types of journaling is freeform journaling. This is the type of journaling where I sit down with a pen and paper and I do my best not to think, but to just let my pen flow across the paper – writing down thoughts as they come and go no matter how important or insignificant they may seem. Connection to the previous sentence, and logical or grammatical sense not required.
This took a lot of patience and practice - freeform journaling involves letting down some of the walls and aforementioned perfectionist tendencies and letting my brain just flow. As someone who very naturally thinks of every possible outcome of every possible scenario, freeform journaling has been a great outlet to get out of my own way and allow my brain to actually clear out. Afterward, I almost always find that my mind feels clearer, less overcrowded, and a little bit more peaceful.
Stay tuned next week for my next blog post: 7 Tips to Get Your Journaling Journey Started, and check out my instagram stories & highlights @perdicoupsychotherapy for some journaling prompts to help you along the way.
PS. If you’re a talking dog interested in journaling who made it this far, hit me up - we could be famous!
Keep in mind that while journaling is a wonderful and helpful tool, sometimes we all need a little bit more help than the tool alone to process things that we are going through. This is often where therapy comes in as an adjunct to your journaling practice!
If this sounds like you, reach out to our team here at Perdicou Psychotherapy. Genna is currently accepting new clients for individual therapy!
If we can’t offer services in house, we will always do our best to direct you to our cherished colleagues and peers who may be able to support you and your needs best.
