Journaling; What It Is And How It Can Help You Improve Your Mental Health
KFTS BloggersBy Vanika
Journaling; What It Is And How It Can Help You Improve Your Mental Health 
Research suggests that when we journal our mental experiences and accept them rather than refusing to believe and judge, it leads to a lesser number of negative responses to stressors. (Ford, Lam, John, & Mauss, 2018; Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005).
Facing difficult and life-altering experiences can be hard. Things like some traumatic incident, general anxiety, stress, or even a bad day can take a toll on your mental health. In the presence of such stressors, self-care becomes crucial. Even though the answer to, “What’s self-care to you?” Is often subjective and unique to every individual, some self-care techniques have helped many overcome their bad days, journaling being one of them.
What’s Journaling?
Journaling is an act of putting down your thoughts, feelings, or simply how your days went. Some do it to keep it as a record of how their day went or some do it to overcome their mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, stress, etc.
When you journal, it helps you gain insight and let go of your negative emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Letting go of unsettling thoughts is always better than suppressing them. Journaling is often referred to as a positive coping mechanism as it helps us overcome our negative thoughts.
How to journal?
The best thing about journaling is that there is no right or wrong way to do it!
Do you want to write? Write.
Do you want to express your feelings by drawing? Draw.
Do you want to make a to-do list or a list of things that make you happy? Make that list.
It can be anything that you want to do. No need to fill up pages if you don’t feel like it. If a small flower at the corner of the page is enough, then it’s enough. You have full control over what you want to put down, you're the boss here.
It’s important to keep in mind that if your thoughts continue to be overbearing, it’s okay to reach out for some help. Good luck with our self-care journey!
To know more about how to live your life read here
To know more about How To Foster And Sustain A Happy Mood read here
References
https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-health-benefits-of-journaling
https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-start-journaling
Tags: #journaling #mentalhealth #selfexpression #baddays #gooddays #selfcare #reachingout #expressingthoughts #expressingfeelings #expressingemotions #anxiety #depression #stress #positivecopingmechanism #supressedfeelings #overcomingnegativity