Why is journaling helpful

Research also suggests it might be helping our health and immune systems, the very things many of us are worried about. People had been keeping diaries long before scientists thought to put them under microscopes. But in the past 30 years, hundreds of studies have uncovered the benefits of putting pen to paper with your deepest thoughts and feelings. In a study , nearly young adults were asked to spend 15 minutes journaling or drawing about a stressful event, or writing about their plans for the day, twice during one week.

The people who journaled saw the biggest reduction in symptoms like depression, anxiety, and hostility, particularly if they were very distressed to begin with. This was true even though 80 percent had seldom journaled about their feelings and only 61 percent were comfortable doing so.

Cathartic is probably a better word. In fact, some research suggests that we can feel more anxious , sad, or guilty right after we write. But in the long term, we can expect to cultivate a greater sense of meaning as well as better health. Various studies have found that people who do a bout of journaling have fewer doctor visits in the following half year, and reduced symptoms of chronic disease like asthma and arthritis.

Other research finds that writing specifically boosts our immune system, good news when the source of so much stress today is an infectious virus. One older study even found that journaling could make vaccines more effective.

In the experiment, some medical students wrote for four days in a row about their thoughts and feelings around some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, from divorce to grief to abuse, while others simply wrote down their daily events and plans. Then, everyone received the hepatitis B vaccine and two booster shots.

According to blood tests, the group who journaled about upsetting experiences had higher antibodies right before the last dose and two months later. Petrie and his colleagues. In another study , researchers recruited undergraduate students who tested positive for the virus that causes mononucleosis, which persists in the body after infection and has the potential to flare up. Three times weekly for 20 minutes, some wrote about a stressful event—like a breakup or a death—while others wrote about their possessions.

It also seemed to help them gain a deeper understanding of their stress and see more positives to it. It turns out journaling works on two different levels, having to do with both our feelings and our thoughts.

Through writing, our pain gets translated into black-and-white words that exist outside of ourselves. On the thinking level, writing forces us to organize our experiences into a sequence, giving us a chance to examine cause and effect and form a coherent story. Through this process, we can also gain some distance from our experiences and begin to understand them in new ways, stumbling upon insights about ourselves and the world.

While trauma can upset our beliefs about how life works, processing trauma through writing seems to give us a sense of control. Journaling can help you:. Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them. Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors. Keep in mind that journaling is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle for better managing stress, anxiety, and mental health conditions.

To get the most benefits, be sure you also:. Try to write every day. Set aside a few minutes every day to write. This will help you to write in your journal regularly.

Make it easy. Keep a pen and paper handy at all times. Then when you want to write down your thoughts, you can. You can also keep a journal on your smartphone.

Write or draw whatever feels right. Your journal doesn't need to follow any certain structure. It's your own private place to discuss and create whatever you want to express your feelings. Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 24 hospitals includes "virtual" hospital , a Medical Group with more than 2, physicians and advanced practice clinicians at about clinics, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services.

Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in clinical quality improvement and efficient healthcare delivery. Which should I choose? Authors Topics. Kasee Bailey Jul 31, Dear Diary. Facebook Twitter. Here are five good-for-you virtues of journaling: Reduces Stress. An overabundance of stress can be damaging to your physical, mental, and emotional health.

Journaling is a incredible stress management tool, a good-for-you habit that lessens impact of physical stressors on your health. In fact, a study showed that expressive writing like journaling for only 15 to 20 minutes a day three to five times over the course of a four-month period was enough to lower blood pressure and improve liver functionality. Plus, writing about stressful experiences can help you manage them in a healthy way.

Try establishing journaling as a pre-bedtime meditation habit to help you unwind and de-stress. Improves Immune Function. Believe it or not, expressive writing can strengthen your immunity and decrease your risk of illness.

Those who journal boast improved immune system functioning it strengthens immune cells! Expressive writing has been shown to improve liver and lung function and combat certain diseases; it has even been reported to help the wounded heal faster.