Journaling: From Brain to Book

With the awareness of mental health spreading, more young adults are getting diagnosed with mental disorders such as anxiety and depression than ever before. An article from Ballard Brief states that cases of anxiety and depression in young adults have increased by 63% from 2005 to 2017. (https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/the-rise-of-anxiety-and-depression-among-young-adults-in-the-united-states) The internet is full of information on symptoms and disorders, causing more people to seek help. Along with the high number of diagnosed people, there have come many tips, tricks, and tools to help with the negative emotions!

The graph from the Cambridge University Press above shows a record of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders recorded by age and gender from 1998-2018. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/trends-in-generalised-anxiety-disorders-and-symptoms-in-primary-care-uk-populationbased-cohort-study/5A04D331090B1CFB889ECDA8B8250D51)

One of my favorite ways to help calm my nerves, fears, or any negative emotion is to put it into my journal. Sometimes it can feel as though you have a million thoughts all in your head at once and you only upset yourself further by letting them race. Personally, I find that taking the time to write out your thoughts is a great way to go back and process them. Even the smallest of problems can seem like a world-ending deal on the wrong day, and we just let those negative emotions build on top of each other which can be a lot for anyone. Writing down your thoughts allows you to take those negatives and slowly lay them out side by side, rather than piling them up in your brain. Once you have them all written out you can go back, reread, and reflect. (Reverse, reread, reflect!) Some of those small problems may even end up being laughable. An article from the University of Rochester medical center says,

“Journaling helps control your symptoms and improve your mood by:

• Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns,

• Tracking any symptoms day to day to so that you can recognize triggers and control them,

• Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors.” (https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1#:~:text=Journaling%20helps%20control%20your%20symptoms,and%20identifying%20negative%20thoughts%20and)

Not only will writing out your problems help you “organize” them, but it can also help you control any future issues. By going back and seeing how you felt a certain day and whatever activity you were doing or who you were talking with can help you understand what upsets or triggers you and this will allow you to learn to avoid those things or people if necessary.

Journaling doesn’t always have to be about negative thoughts either. Reflecting on the positives in your day and in yourself is just as important as the negatives. Along with learning to avoid triggers you can learn what makes you feel positive emotions. Most people can easily recognize what makes them happy and sad, but for the deeper things it can be easier to make a connection physically rather than mentally. This could be especially helpful for neurodivergent people who may have extra trouble working through and recognizing their emotions. Manasa B wrote on The Jotting Dots that journaling specifically helps autistic individuals to identify negative emotions, regulate emotions, identify triggers, encourage healing, keep a schedule, manage time, and problem solve. (https://www.thejottingdots.com/post/autism-and-journaling) Not all autistic individuals may be able to take up journaling, but I believe those who can should be encouraged to try it out! Here is a link to an autism parenting magazine of a powerful real life story of how a mom used journaling to communicate and create a connection with her autistic non-verbal son: How Journaling with my ASD son created a special life connection. 

Don’t worry if you’re not a person who’s good with words because journaling doesn’t have to mean only writing. A journal can be like your own little studio where you can express yourself however you want. Many people, myself included, like to include anything from drawings to collages in their journals along with writing. A journal is not a school or work project, it doesn’t have to follow some guidelines or rubric and be neat or even consecutive. There’s no punishment or grade deduction if you forget to write for a month then randomly pick it up again one day. It would be good to have a set time each day to journal and build a habit out of it. However, the whole point of journaling is to lessen your stress so if you feel like you don’t have time to journal that day then do it another day. The only guideline you should have when journaling is do what feels right to you, write in that horrible handwriting only you can read, don’t worry about your spelling, and draw that weird thing that just popped into your mind!

How to Start your Journaling Journey

 Starting a journal can oddly be a little daunting but once you get going it gets so much easier and becomes enjoyable. When I first started journaling, I found It difficult to choose where to begin. I felt like I was being told what to write about my whole life so choosing whatever I wanted to write about took me a little bit. Here are some random things that you could put in your journal to start:

• How you are feeling right now.

• Doodle your favorite things and write why they are your favorites.

• What you did today.

• What your family is like.

• What your best friend is like.

• An embarrassing memory you still think about.

• Favorite childhood memory.

• What were you like in middle school? Highschool?

• Start a calendar to rate each day of that month/week (it took me 3 different times to do this every day for a month, don’t worry if you forget about it)

You can start with the simplest or stupidest ideas in your journal. There’s no need to dive right into your trauma if you don’t feel ready or if you do, go for it.

There are so many ways of keeping a journal, it can be fun to experiment with what you’re doing. You could have one big journal that has everything like your mood, appointments, drawings, routine, and/or reviews. Or if you’re a more organized person, I know people that have multiple journals for different topics. For example, you could keep one for book reviews, one for collages, and one for bullet journaling. The only limit you have when journaling is whatever’s stopping you from moving that pen or pencil. Well, maybe your artistic capabilities too if that’s not your strong suit, but then again it’s your journal so who cares if you can only draw stick figures!

Maren Franklin