Robert Carbajal
Third Year
Neuroscience and Psychology Major
Managing the stress and anxieties that accumulate throughout the school year can be overwhelming. There are many activities you could try to improve your well-being and it can be nauseating figuring out where to start. Journaling is a popular coping strategy, but what exactly is it?
I recently got into journaling, after years of hearing about it, and a couple rough weeks. Journaling is a way I can freely express my thoughts onto a piece of paper. The idea that my journaling is for my eyes only, gives me freedom. There are various types of journaling. One of the most common methods is expressive writing, which is when your writing focuses more on your feelings and reactions to events rather than focusing on what happened (Psychology Today).
Journaling can provide improvements to well-being and depending on the style of journaling, can increase life-satisfaction and optimism (Kim-Godwin et al. 2020). Journaling has been found to decrease psychological distress in people with chronic health conditions who are struggling with anxiety (Smyth et al. 2018). While journaling does not replace professional therapy, it has been shown to decrease symptoms of various psychological disorders (Sohal et al. 2022).
In this blog series, I will provide journaling prompts and share several journaling styles. This week, we will try expressive writing. In this type of writing, focus on your feelings and reactions to the events happening around you (Psychology Today).
Prompt:
Write about a significant event that has occurred this semester. It may be something that has been stressing you out or an event that made you feel extremely happy. Write for 15 minutes about how this event has been making you feel and your reactions to the event.
Tips for getting started:
- Set a timer for 15 minutes
- Creating an environment that will allow you to feel free to express yourself
After journaling, you may notice you have gained perspective, insight or even acceptance on the topic you have chosen to write about. Next time, we will practice a different style of journaling called positive writing.
Sources
Evans, John F. (2012). Expressive writing. Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/write-yourself-well/201208/expressive-writing.
Kim-Godwin, Kim, S.-S., & Gil, M. (2020). Journaling for self-care and coping in mothers of troubled children in the community. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 34(2), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2020.02.005
Smyth, Johnson, J. A., Auer, B. J., Lehman, E., Talamo, G., & Sciamanna, C. N. (2018). Online positive affect journaling in the improvement of mental distress and well-being in general medical patients with elevated anxiety symptoms: A preliminary randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mental Health, 5(4), e11290–e11290. https://doi.org/10.2196/11290
Sohal, Singh, P., Dhillon, B. S., & Gill, H. S. (2022). Efficacy of journaling in the management of mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Family Medicine and Community Health, 10(1), e001154–. https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2021-001154