By Olivia Merrick In many ways, the writing process can be one that’s incredibly intimidating. With deadlines looming and grades in the balance, academic writing often ends up becoming a stressful experience. Despite the reputation it has in the minds of many, there are a lot of mental health benefits that writing can have, especially when it comes to journaling and self-reflection. Journaling is often considered as something people do when they’re younger (URMR). I’m sure I’m not the only person who really wanted one of those diaries that you could only unlock by telling it a certain word. There's something so novel and timeless about the image of scribbling about friendship drama and crushes with a bright pink ink inside of a sparkly, neon diary, and I think that’s why journaling often gets left behind as we grow up. The truth is that journaling into and throughout adulthood has remarkable benefits on your overall mental health and well-being. An article published in the University of Rochester Medical Review asserts that daily journaling has been shown to help anxiety, depression, and general stress. The authors of this article stress the importance of not feeling obligated to write in a certain way or pattern, but rather, to be open to going with where your thoughts and experiences take you (URMR). There’s no right way to write, and this is especially true of journaling. Furthermore, writing can help you process difficult experiences and emotions. Now, this isn’t to say that you should do journaling as a substitute for therapy, but it can be helpful in processing traumatic events (Reed). Sometimes, it can be helpful to write out how you’re feeling to try and even just put words to emotions you’re experiencing. There's something that’s comforting about knowing that you’re sharing what you’re feeling, while simultaneously knowing that your journal won’t judge you because it’s an inanimate object. Instead, you get the benefit of knowing you’re not just keeping it to yourself as you work toward addressing your feelings to hopefully be able to seek out external support, should you need/want it. Although the mental health benefits are immense, writing can also help increase your level of self-awareness, which recent research has indicated might be the reason as to why mental health is so drastically improved by writing. Increased self-awareness can lead to an increase in self-confidence, more effective decision making, and can allow us to possess more self-control. Plus, the increase in self-awareness as a result of writing can be seen no matter the kind of writing that you’re doing (Thatcher). There is a ton of overwhelming evidence that supports the benefits of writing on your overall mental health, and more than that, it doesn’t necessarily matter what kind of writing you’re doing. The most important thing is that you give it a go and do your best to keep yourself from having certain expectations of what you need to be writing. Instead, work to just write. Works Cited:
Reed, Jon. Writing and mental health: 8 psychological benefits of writing. Publishing Talk. 10 Oct. 2022. https://www.publishingtalk.org/writing/writing-and-mental-health-8-psychological-benefits/ Thatcher, Christina. Writing can improve mental health- here's how. The Conversation. 17 June 2021. https://theconversation.com/writing-can-improve-mental-health-heres-how-162205 University of Rochester Medical Review. Journaling for Mental Health. University of Rochester Medical Review, Health Encyclopedia. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1
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January 2024
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