3 Ways Journaling Can Improve Your Life
How I use journaling to manage my mental health.
Hi there!
On November 8, 1983, a young boy sat with his back against the wood headboard of his twin bed, pulled out a pen and three-by-five notebook, and put hand to paper. In a moment, he formed a lifelong habit, one that in many ways, changed everything.
It would be another decade before a doctor said, “You have bipolar disorder,” to me, but the noise in my head was already starting.
I lived by a list of my own rules, and number one was, “Trust no one.”
My journal became the only place I told anyone what was really going on with me. Here are three ways journaling improved my life.
“I don’t journal to ‘be productive.’ I don’t do it to find great ideas or to put down prose I can later publish. The pages aren’t intended for anyone but me. It’s the most cost-effective therapy I’ve ever found.”
- Tim Ferriss
Scott Ninneman also publishes the free All Things Bipolar Newsletter (off Substack). The Sunday email features the newest content about bipolar life.
Journaling for Clarity
As a preteen, the stories I wanted to tell swirled in my mind.
There was a girl, born the same day as me, who awakened in me a desire to be close to someone. There were the secrets our family held but didn’t speak of outside of the walls of our hundred-year-old farmhouse. And there were feelings, dark and sinister, plaguing my mind and making me contemplate self-harm and suicide.
I meticulously hid my journal, putting it first in a folder, then in a cloth bag, and finally stuffing it in the bottom of a box that held a plastic race-car track. I told no one about it.
It was my secret, a place to say whatever I wanted. No one could ever know.
Journaling for Escape
Journaling became my daily escape.
No matter how awful the day was, in those pages, I could be me. I could express how I felt and work through the dark thoughts in my head. Through those pages, I could examine my emotions connected to painful secrets, and begin to find ways to conquer them.
Without knowing it, I created a coping mechanism that would be one of the most vital parts of maintaining my mental health stability.
Journaling for Stability
The power of my journal still bolsters me today.
I may not touch the pages in my brown leather journal (ad) every day, but when I need them, they are always there. Journaling helps me monitor my mental and physical health, look for dangerous trends, and explore what I really feel.
If you’re not already journaling, why not start today? The writing process will help you in three ways:
Sort out the thoughts in your head.
Give you a safe place to release anger and frustration.
Create a history to look back at how various things affect your mental health.
Everyone needs a safe place to be completely themselves with no judgment. A journal can give you the welcoming environment you’re searching to find.
Start writing today. If you’ve never journaled before, here’s a good place to start. Many like to start with a guided mood journal.
How long have you been journaling? Please share your experience in the comments.
Journaling for You
Use these writing prompts to explore your feelings about journaling.
Journal Prompt: When did you write your first journal entry? What inspired you to start? If today is your first time, what do you hope journaling will do for you?
Creative Writing Prompt: You’re remodeling an old house. As you tear down a wall, you discover a box full of journals. Write a story about the author or write an excerpt from the journals.
Until next time, keep fighting.
Scott Ninneman
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