Home > 5 scientific benefits of journaling on regular basis
In my life since 2009, I have been practicing Journaling for my mental
health, and after seen immense mental health benefits I started using them as
my tool in counselling too. If you were my client in era of the time, you may
have already used and seen changes in to you too.
Various studies have shown
that journaling can reduce the effect of depression and anxiety. In 2006 Stice, Burton, Bearman &
Rohde did a study in which they found that writing journal can be equally
effective as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy when it comes to minimizing the risk
of depression among youngsters.
And in another study conducted
by Hasanzadeh,
Khoshknab, & Norozi found that the simple act of journaling reduced
anxiety in women who were suffering from multiple sclerosis. Various other
studies have proven that journaling can decrease the symptoms of depression and
also reduces the frequency of depressive, negative and intrusive thoughts.
Journaling could help people
effectively manage stress and anxiety and improve their productivity at work. As
you may be aware that mostly depression and anxiety is accompanied by negative thought
process and associated overthinking. Where as journaling allows you to decode
your thoughts, and let them process in a more analytical and non-emotional way and
respond appropriately.
Any kind of emotional trauma impacts every part of our lives. It could be anything like financial issues, relationship issues with other or our perception about ourself… writing can help you to focus, process emotion, organize your experience. Instead of simply letting negative thoughts run rampant in your mind, journaling allows you to engage with your thoughts and determine whether they are true or false.
Journaling not only helps in overcoming depression and anxiety but
also improve overall physical health. It has been seen that journaling also inculcate
gratitude. Now you may ask why gratitude is important? You can read here
why gratitude is important.
Various studies have shown
that gratitude has multiple health benefits. Gratitude is directly linked to
our healthy lifestyle. That means gratitude most likely increase exercise and
quality sleep patterns, and both enhance long term health benefits. It has been shown to significantly increase
optimism, which indirectly affects both your happiness and your health.
Gratitude is tied to
reduced levels of depression, making progress toward goals, and making a person
more sociable and friendly.
When it comes to living a
healthy, happy life, gratitude can make all the difference. Journaling allows
you to reflect on all the good things in your life, which, in turn, enables you
to be grateful. When you don’t journal, it’s easy to forget about all the good
things happening in your life and slide into depression or anxiety.
It has also been shown
that journaling can help a person recover more quickly from traumatic events.
Writing things down allows you to process what has occurred and see the good
side of life, even when things are difficult. Journaling also allows you to
directly confront the things you’ve experienced instead of avoiding them and
not taking the time to process them.
If you’ve experienced the
death of a loved one, journaling can enable you to effectively grieve in a
manner that’s both healthy and healing. As you journal, you can take the
necessary time to remember your loved one, process the loss, and begin to move
forward.
A
2002 study by researchers Provencher, Gregg, Mead, & Mueser also
found that journaling can speed the recovery of those who are struggling with
various psychiatric conditions. Psychiatric conditions are often accompanied by
repetitive, intrusive thoughts that can be difficult to process. Journaling
allows you to get those thoughts down on paper, process them effectively, and
finally dispatch with them.
It shouldn’t come as any
surprise that journaling can also improve overall memory function. Neurologist
Judy Willis says: The practice of writing can enhance the brain’s intake,
processing, retaining, and retrieving of information… it promotes the brain’s
attentive focus … boosts long-term memory, illuminates patterns, gives the
brain time for reflection, and when well-guided, is a source of conceptual
development and stimulus of the brain’s highest cognition.
When you journal, you are
both recording and processing the events of a particular time period. As you do
this, you are remembering and reflecting upon the details of the events, which
then helps you retain those memories for a significantly longer amount of time.
You might not believe but
journaling has been proved that it can improve overall immune system and
decrease the risk of any illness. Karen
A. Baikie and Kay Wilhelm found in research that person who 20 minutes of
journaling per day and 3 to 5 times a week saw the following benefits:
How can the simple act of
journaling improve your health?
Journaling helps a person
to see the life events in a holistic manner, so everything happens seems so clear
and integrate them into their overall perspective on life.
This, in turn, enables a person to think more positively about their life and create a holistic picture of themselves in relation to the rest of the world. It follows that a person with a positive, holistic view of themselves is less prone to things like depression and anxiety, both of which can cause a variety of physical health problems.
Additionally, journaling
allows you to analyze past events for patterns. As you look at your journal
over time, you may begin to see particular patterns emerge, whether in your own
behavior or in the behavior of others. Once you spot these patterns, you can
respond appropriately.
If you aren’t yet, I hope these five reasons encourage you to start journaling.
Journaling is incredibly beneficial, both mentally and physically. It enables you to process the events you experience, which leads to a healthy and holistic view of yourself. It empowers you to work through trauma, bringing healing to past wounds and insight into the way forward. It improves your memory of events and enhances your ability to see patterns in life.
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