Do your thoughts keep you awake at night? Do you feel overwhelmed and disorganized with the many to-dos swirling through your mind? You are not alone. The American Psychological Association reports 84% of American adults are stressed, and that anxiety, sadness, and anger are the top three emotions associated with stress.
Gallup reports 57% of American and Canadian workers are stressed daily, a spike since the pandemic in multiple life areas. Of these workers, 67% are women.
Numerous statistics like this exist and cover different groups, including teens, adults, college students, CEOs, entry-level employees, stay-at-home parents, and many others. The overall mental health of the country seems to be suffering. Fortunately, there are things you can do to improve your mental health.
The National Institute of Mental Health lists various activities to reduce stress and improve mental health. The first suggestion listed is to keep a journal. You’ve likely heard this before, maybe more than once. So, why haven’t you tried it yet? One reason may be not understanding what it means to start journaling for mental health.
Journaling for Mental Health
Journaling is an activity that gets thoughts out of your head and onto paper, audio, or video. Most people think of journaling as writing in a diary or notebook. Today, journaling can happen in many forms, such as speaking into your smartphone, computer, downloading and using a journaling APP, or purchasing a cute journal at your favorite bookstore that includes topic prompts. You cannot go wrong with the type of journal you keep.
There are multiple journals, including travel, work, gratitude, dreams, goals and steps, and mental health. Journaling for mental health means writing or speaking about issues involving your mental health. Here, you would write about all the stressors affecting your life that day. Now that you have the topic, it’s time to start documenting.
Sometimes getting started can be the hardest part because most people are too busy dealing with their stressors. Let’s face it, stress is getting in your way. Now is the time to make your mental health a priority, and by using the journaling tips below, you can start today and notice improvements in a very short time.
Just Write it Down
Too often, we are writing on behalf of or to someone else. We don’t send texts, emails, or letters to ourselves. When you start journaling, you are not writing to anyone. In the learning stage of journaling, you are simply getting in the habit of writing down your thoughts, any thoughts, in any random order.
If you struggle with the first few sentences, write “I’m struggling with the first few sentences” and keep writing it down. Your mind will send out words and even if they are not in sentence form, jot them down. There is no right or wrong way to start your journaling.
Try Tracking
For some, it is easier to start a journal entry by tracking. For example, track your progress towards a goal, track your symptoms if you have a mental health disorder, or track your mood throughout the day and detail what was happening at the time of a mood change. You can even track habits or form new habits.
Tracking has multiple benefits. It helps you reflect on your day to determine where changes you need to make. It enables you to measure progress and identify triggers that may lead to negative behaviors. For example, you ran into a mean ex-friend at the grocery store. To cope with the anxiety they invoked, you eat an entire bag of potato chips driving home. Tracking this information can help you deal with the feelings connected to this person and substitute new coping skills.
Journaling about this incident will also help you release negative emotions.
Release Negative Feelings
Your journal is where you can say all the things you can’t say to someone in person. Go ahead, tell them how you feel in writing. You will notice negative emotions start to fade after a while, and your mind will clear. This is an excellent time to continue writing but write about what you can do to make things better.
Write about a coworker, boss, neighbor, family member, a stranger, or yourself who is causing you stress, write to release the negative feelings.
Write About Yourself
Everyone has something they don’t like bout themselves. Your journal is not the place to bash yourself. That’s because we, as humans, believe what we tell ourselves. You must be careful in sending yourself messages, especially false ones.
There is a right way to write about yourself. If you have a characteristic getting in your way of success, list it in your journal. Include evidence that proves or disproves your theory. Then write a positive solution for change and steps for accomplishing the transformation.
Get Creative
Journaling does not have to be written. How you express your thoughts and feelings should represent your personality and make you feel comfortable expressing yourself. If you don’t like to write but love rapping, create rap lyrics about your feelings. If you are an artist, draw your thoughts. Use your creativity to express yourself.
Writing Prompts
In the beginning, there may be days where you are so tired you cannot think of any topic on which to write. That’s okay. Here are some writing prompts for mental health journaling.
What do you want from your relationship with your spouse?
How can you show more compassion towards yourself?
What personal, professional, or social goals do you want to accomplish?
What advice would you give your younger self about life?
Do you want to be in the same job in five or ten years?
What are some things that disrupt your mood?
Finally, when starting a journal to improve mental health, find a quiet, comfortable place to write. Make sure you give yourself around thirty minutes, alone and uninterrupted, to complete your journal so you can reap the rewards of mental health improvements. You deserve it!