Journaling has many mental health benefits as it can assist with managing anxiety, reducing stress, and coping with depression. It can also help control various symptoms and improve your mood. Journaling can help you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns, it can track symptoms and feelings day to day, help to recognize triggers, and can provide an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thinking patterns.
Briefly – How to Journal
There are no right or wrong ways to journal. You get to make the “rules” to your journaling. Make it interesting and enjoyable – purchase a colorful or artist journal and your favorite pens or pencils. Try and set aside five to ten minutes every day dedicated to journaling. Write or draw whatever feels best for you in that moment. You can start with a thought, an idea, an emotion, or something that happened recently. Once you have started, let your thoughts flow through your writing utensil and happen naturally. Create your journal however you want it to be organized or not organized.
Prompts – Depression
If you are struggling with where to start and you are dealing with symptoms of depression and want to journal, use these prompts below to get you started and see where they take you.
- If there is one thing I can change in my life right now, what would that be? How can I start moving in that direction towards the change?
- What times of year do I feel my best? My worst? Is there a pattern? What is the pattern?
- The last time I felt sad, I felt like *insert emotion*. What made me feel better then?
- What challenges am I facing and should I ask for support or help?
- What are the lessons from today that I want to remember tomorrow?
- Name three positive things going on in my life right now.
- How can I better take care of myself emotionally when I am feeling depressed?
- What emotion is most prevalent today and where do I feel it in my body?
Review
Journaling can be a way for one to organize their thoughts, process their emotions, track patterns, and recognize negative or positive thinking patterns. There are no right or wrong rules to journaling as it can be whatever you need it to be for you. Find your favorite journal, favorite writing utensil, and spend a few minutes each day writing or drawing what is on your mind. Use the above prompts if you are struggling with depression and struggling with where to start and see where your mind goes.
About Therapist Bethany Winter, MA, LPC Barnum Counseling
CalzadillaLMHC, W. by:Sandra, & WestphalenPharmD, R. by:Dena. (n.d.). 41 journal prompts for Depression. Choosing Therapy. https://www.choosingtherapy.com/journal-prompts-for-depression/
(n.d). Journaling for mental health. Journaling for Mental Health – Health Encyclopedia – University of Rochester Medical Center. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1
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