Introduction
Journaling is a useful tool to alleviate symptoms associated with depression. According to depressionhealth.net, “Writing in a journal gives you the freedom to explore your thoughts while taking a step back to reflect on them. Scientific studies show journaling improves cognition and analytical thinking, enhances the immune system, reduces anxiety, and even decreases the severity of asthma attacks and arthritis in many people. By enhancing your self-awareness, you will deal with your hardships in a more thoughtful way that fights depression.” This article will explore two key objectives of journaling and the benefits of journaling for depression.
The Two Key Objectives For Journaling
What is the purpose of journaling? Is it simply to write down your thoughts? Is it something more? According to depressiontoolkit.org, the following represent the two key objectives to keep a journal:
Recapturing the moment
During the course of the day, events, conversations, thoughts and activities can fly by quickly; there is little time “in the moment” for reflection. Spending just a few minutes a day writing in a journal is an opportunity to slow down, look back and revisit key events of the day, describing not only what happened, but what you recall thinking or feeling. Reflecting on how you reacted to the events of the day and how you felt throughout the day in writing can provide very useful insight into how you see yourself and the world around you. This knowledge can help you gauge the progress you’re making with your treatment plan.
Learning from the moment
Journaling is a great self-teaching tool. It provides a safe environment for not only looking at “what happened” during the day, but examining how changing your thoughts or behaviors might have brought about a different outcome. Many people find that once they’ve recounted the day’s events, they can also spend a few minutes journaling about the lessons of the day, and “practicing” alternative ways to react to stress, handle relationships and recognize and appreciate life’s positive moments.
What Are The Benefits Of Journaling To Help Alleviate Symptoms Associated With Depression?
What are the benefits of journaling to help alleviate symptoms associated with depression? According to psychiatry.org, “Journaling can provide general wellness and self-improvement benefits, such as making you more self-aware, boosting creativity and helping you build better habits. Journaling can help you better understand your feelings and emotions and help you manage stress. Writing about things that have frustrated or upset you can help you to let go of some of the stress and gain perspective.” With that said, journaling can provide a sense of self-awareness to enable individuals to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings. When you are more aware of your thoughts and feelings, your mood becomes more stable and your depression decreases, as well.
Conclusion
To end this article, this article focused on the objectives of journaling to alleviate symptoms associated with depression, as well as the benefits of journaling to alleviate symptoms associated with depression.
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