How journaling can help with your mental health
How journaling can help with your mental health
Mental health is always important, however with events over the last few years causing many people even more stress and anxiety, it is more important than ever to put self care at the top of our priority list.
Of course, mental health means different things to different people and when our mental health doesn’t feel so good, it can be anything from a slight anxious feeling to deep depression with all the shades in between.
I know first hand that mental health issues do need proper attention. Having suffered with depression myself a long time ago, I know how important it is to see a doctor or other medical professional if you feel like it is taking over your world. So if you are struggling and you feel like you need much more help with your mindset than the tools I share here, Please make that commitment to yourself that you will seek out the help and support you need right now.
But if you know that your mental health is normally good and you are going through a period of feeling particularly down or anxious, then here are some ways that journaling can help you.
Boosting Your Mood
If you really want to boost your mood right now, then keeping a gratitude journal is one of the simplest ways to give yourself a boost. Commit to spending 10-15 minutes, once a day, preferably before bed, writing down what you’re grateful for today.
It might not seem like much but it’s very powerful for shifting your mindset and going to sleep thinking positively about your life. You will be surprised at how this can positively impact your life over time.
Dealing With Situations
Are you currently dealing with any embarrassing or awkward situations? Journaling is a great way to get your feelings out on paper or to even re-write a situation to how you would have liked it to go. This not only gets it out of your head but also helps you to deal with similar situations in the future. None of us are perfect so get out of your own head by admitting this on paper – this also takes away the emotional ‘charge’ that we feel around other people or situations.
Journaling in itself, just putting pen to paper and getting things out of your head is so therapeutic anyway. However, it also helps you because you will start to see 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.
To boost your wellbeing even further, as you write, try looking at that situation from the highest perspective. What are the blessings of that situation, what is good about it?
Byron Katie’s app is a great tool to help you reframe (not affiliated) and you can use that as a basis for your deeper journaling if it helps.
Better Sleep
Pouring your heart out into a journal is a great way to get things off your chest. However, for better sleep it might help to do this earlier in the day. The best type of journaling just before bed is keeping a gratitude journal. Just taking the time to appreciate your life and going back over what you’re thankful for today can transform a racing mind. It is much easier to sleep thinking of all the good things in your life.
And finally – as we all know, what you get down on paper helps to shape your life so why not spend some time before bed, scripting out the next day exactly how you would like it to be. Personally I find that this is very calming and absorbing and you may just be surprised at how good your days start to feel as you start scripting out your life.
Comment below and let us know how journaling has helped you.