How Journaling Can Help with Mental Health Issues

Keeping any type of journal will help with improving any mental health issues. However, if you really want to tackle a specific problem you’re having, it will help to determine the right type of journal to keep. Keeping a particular kind of journal may work best for your issue.

* Boosts Your Mood – If you really want to boost your mood, keeping a gratitude journal is where it’s at.

All you have to do is once a day, preferably before bed, write down what you’re grateful for today.

It might not seem like much but it’s very powerful for going to sleep, thinking positively about your life.

* Increases Your Sense of Well-Being – As you write out your thoughts, you’ll start seeing issues from a new angle just because you’re opening your mind to think about it.

This is going to make you feel more capable of dealing with whatever happens.

* Lessens Symptoms of Depression – Understand that depression is something different from sadness, and that you likely need a counselor.

Writing it all down can make it seem less horrific so that you can feel better.

Plus, you can look back at days you thought life was "over" and see better days after.

* Reduces Anxiety – The problem with anxiety is that it was designed to help us get away from immediate danger.

It triggers the "fight or flight" response. If each time you have that anxious feeling you choose to write in your journal how you are feeling and why, you’ll start to control it better.

* Lowers Avoidance Behaviors – Many people who have mental health issues practice avoidance behaviors such as not going to places that cause them anxiety, or not doing the things they need to do due to how they feel.

When you write it out, it helps you get the feelings out but do the thing anyway.

* You’ll Sleep Better – Pouring your heart out into a journal is a great way to get things off your chest.

However, for sleep, go to the gratitude journal and write down what you’re thankful for today and go to sleep thinking of that.

* Makes You a Kinder Person – Exploring your own emotional state and accepting your own feelings while you work through what makes you who you are in your journal is going to make you naturally more empathetic to others too.

Letting go of judgment for self improves your thoughts for others also.

* Improves Your Memory – This is almost a situation where you want to say "duh" but it has to be said.

Writing down things helps you remember them because you can go back and read it, but also because the act of writing something down enables you to recall it.

One thing that can really help you make your journaling work is to learn how to keep one effectively.

Make some journaling rules, do it every day to create a habit, and keep it private unless you decide to let your therapist see it or you decide to use it to help others. This is for you and only you for the most part.

Types of Journals for Mental Health

Mental health is a precarious subject at best. There are still many people who aren’t sure they believe in the concept of mental health disorders.

Some people are skeptics who simply assume those who suffer from mental health disorders simply need to toughen up and get over it.

This is simply not the case, and that’s why so many people are turning to the help of their mental health providers more than they did in the past.

It seems the world is changing, and with that changes seems to come the wider acceptance of mental health problems.

Now it’s widely discussed, many people are taking it more seriously than ever before, and the people who suffer from mental health problems feel less of a stigma.

When your mental health is in question, one thing your doctor might ask you to do is journal.

There are many types of journals you can create to help you, and each one of them helps you in a different manner.

Discovering what type and how your journal can help is going to help you focus on getting better.

Mindfulness Journals

The art of being mindful takes practice. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly takes practice.

The great news about being mindful, though, is you’re focusing on being more present at any given moment.

One of the most well-received ways to keep a mindfulness journal is to create come up with a certain number of “Mindful Moments” to write down at the end of each day.

For example, if your journal focuses on “4 Mindful Moments,” you’ll write down four moments each day you felt you were especially mindful.

Perhaps you really noticed the way the roses in your garden smell and you took a few moments to appreciate the beauty of the plants.

Maybe you really took a few moments to think through a situation before you responded, and it helped you remain calm and in control. Whatever it is, write it down.

This allows you to focus on the moments in which you are most mindful, and this allows you to focus on your overall mental health.

Gratitude Journals

A gratitude journal is something everyone should keep if they want to feel happier in everyday life.

A gratitude journal is very personal, but it’s very effective. Most people spend the vast majority of their time focused on the things that go wrong in life.

Perhaps you are frustrated because of traffic and you forget to enjoy the jokes your toddler is telling you from the backseat.

Maybe you are so focused on how mean someone was to you earlier you don’t recognize how kind another stranger was.

Each day, write down two or three things that you’re thankful for.

Some days this will be a stretch, but remember it’s not always the big things you have to be grateful for.

Sometimes it’s nothing more than just the way someone smells when you walk by them at work each morning.

If that makes you happy, let it make you happy.

Spending intentional time focusing on what makes you grateful takes the power away from the things that make you less than grateful.

Private Journals

A private journal is just that. It’s private, and it’s your thoughts alone. There is no right or wrong thing to keep in this journal.

All you should do is spend time each day writing in it.

It can be lyrics you love from a song you heard. It can be a poem that touched you.

It can be a rant about something someone did that really upset you or something amazing you felt happened today. Whatever you want to write about, you get to write about.

This kind of journaling makes it easier for you to recognize yourself by focusing on certain themes. What makes you happy?

What seems to make you sad? You really get to know yourself when you write in a journal of this nature, and that’s what makes it so beneficial to people who suffer from mental health problems.

Your mental health is yours. There is no right or wrong way to feel, but you do know you can change the way you think and feel by focusing on the good things in life and getting to know yourself.

You cannot control what happens in life, but you’re always capable of controlling your reaction to the things that happen to you in life.

It’s your power, and no one can take that from you.

The full colour beautifully illustrated writing prompts in these Angel & fairy themed thankfulness diary sets make it easy and fun to write every day about the big and small joys in your life.

Stop taking your life for granted and attract even more abundance every day!

Gratitude Journal - Angel Cherub Fairy: Gorgeous full color Cherubs Angels and Fairies Theme illustrated Thankfulness Diary (Illustrated Writing Prompts Gratitude Journal Paperback)

Gratitude Journal - Angel Cherub Fairy: Gorgeous full color Fairy & Guardian Angel Theme illustrated Thankfulness Diary (Illustrated Writing Prompts Gratitude Journal Paperback)

Gratitude Journal - Angel Cherub Fairy: Gorgeous full color Angel Theme illustrated Thankfulness Journal (Illustrated Writing Prompts Gratitude Journal Paperback)

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