Exercise. Meditation. Journaling. These suggestions are constantly thrown out in conservations promoting mental health improvement. To me, journaling always seemed the least likely to actually have an impact on my wellbeing. Exercise and meditation involve deliberately focusing your mind or physically moving your body. What could documenting my anxious thoughts do besides make them stronger?Â
The merit of journaling revealed itself to me accidentally. After a meeting with my college advisor freshman year, I was so overwhelmed by questions of my future that I poured it all out on a Google Document. It was not pretty or polished. It read as a rant. It was almost four pages long, size 11 font and single spaced. As soon as I was done, I shut my laptop with no intention of going back to it. I finally felt like I could breathe.Â
When I returned to the document the next day– solely based on the fact that the tab was still open— I was met with writing less undecipherable than I thought. I saw the words of a girl who was worried, particular, and obsessive about every detail of her life that was going wrong. Her tangents revealed that she was plagued by problems that either had solutions or were simply out of her hands. In some cases, I found myself talking to the girl: I promise it’s not that big of a deal, or There is so much time to figure this out. I saw my own anxieties from the perspective of an outsider and suddenly the remedies materialized. With my thought process unveiled, I was able to realize I was often spiraling needlessly.
Since that day, I have frequently returned to the same document designated as my “Journal Doc”. I label the entry by date and have unintentionally created a catalogue of my thoughts. Looking back on my earliest entries is incredibly rewarding: it becomes clear how much I have changed and progressed. The act of journaling itself serves as an immediate relief. By being forced to articulate my jumbled thoughts and place them on a page, something heavy, hazy, and unmanageable seems smaller. This is no coincidence. Cambridge University Press reports that, “Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations.” Health and behavioral outcomes of expressive writing include reduced depressive symptoms, enhanced mood, improved immune system functioning, improved working memory, and even higher grade point averages (Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. ) Writing about our deepest thoughts and feelings can be extremely beneficial in the long term, even if the act itself is wrought with uncomfortable emotion.Â
I am no longer a journaling skeptic. In fact, in addition to writing about stressful events, I have begun detailing actions that have made me proud of myself. These snippets serve as “proof” of my capabilities and help bolster my self-efficacy. Whenever I am doubting myself, I enjoy being able to look back and see all I have conquered– my wins as well as the ways I have survived my losses. To all of those who have suggested “letting your emotions out on paper,” to feel better, all I can say is: You were right.
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