Health Benefits of Journaling
KAYLE SANDBERG-LEWIS, BCN-Fellow, M.A., LMT
A study published in the April 1999 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed the amazing power of journaling. The study involved people who had either rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or asthma. The control group, a mix of folks with RA and others with asthma, were asked to write about “emotionally neutral topics” such as what they had eaten for lunch, while the experimental group was asked to write about “the most stressful event of their lives”.
The researchers had the participants’ health records and tracked interactions with physicians, changes in prescriptions, and medical “emergencies”. What they found in the four months following the exercise - three writing sessions lasting about twenty minutes each - were reductions in measures of arthritis - as assessed by rheumatologists - among those with RA and increased lung capacity among those with asthma.
The researchers concluded: “Patients with mild to moderately severe asthma or rheumatoid arthritis who wrote about stressful life experiences had clinically relevant changes in health status at four months compared with those in the control group. These gains were beyond those attributable to the standard medical care that all participants were receiving.”
Other studies have shown that, through writing, people have
Developed better problem solving
Improved self-expression
Better insight into motivations of self & others
Decreased stress
There are several varieties of journaling - a few are listed below.
Reflective journaling - recording what has happened during the day or over a lifetime. It’s what most people think of and the method the above study references.
Encapsulation journaling - Challenge yourself to write just one sentence that captures the essence of the day you’ve experienced.
Dream journaling - a great way to tell your brain you want to remember your dreams. I advocate for a mixed media approach with dreams - both writing and drawing with colored markers, to get the entire brain engaged in remembering details. You may think you don’t have much to record at first, but you will probably surprise yourself.
“Aspirational” journaling - setting goals and holding oneself accountable for attaining them.
Not just goals of what you will accomplish, but what you will release.
While you’re at it, describe your vision for the future, whether that’s the day ahead or ten years from now.
Affirmation journaling - Similar to aspirational, but usually more succinct - an affirmation of something you wish to manifest in your life - something you can carry with you throughout the day.
Quotation-based journaling - Start each entry with a meaningful quote. Perhaps you have a favorite author or character who inspires you. Use others’ words to move you forward.
Question-based journaling - This can take a while to set up, but the results can be delightful. Whenever you have a question or hear a question, write it down on a piece of paper. Fill a jar with these questions & dip into it for prompts to begin writing.
An alternative to this approach is to simply start with the same question each time: What am I thinking? What am I afraid of? What would it mean to be satisfied?
A slightly different spin on this is How do I solve…? Give yourself an opportunity to brainstorm solutions
Automatic writing - Set the timer and just write - start with ten minutes and eventually build to 30. If you can’t think of anything to write, write just that! “I can’t think of anything to write” If you write that often enough, your brain will give you plenty to put down. This style of writing was popularized by Peter Elbow and is also referred to as “free writing”.
Morning pages - popularized by Julie Cameron in The Artist’s Way is a form of automatic writing - three pages of longhand stream of consciousness writing first thing in the morning. Millions of people have found it helpful.
“List” journaling - Make lists. Sound nutty? Make lists of what you like, what you hate, favorite books or movies - lists have infinite possibilities and often lead to longer form writing.
Gratitude journaling - While this could be one of the lists mentioned above, it is also good to go into detail. Not just what you are grateful for, but why.
Creative journaling - there are so many ways to be creative with journaling!
A “scrapbooking” approach to journaling allows a person to “journal” without much writing involved -
Sketches with or without commentary.
Pressed flowers or other items picked up during the day.
A day in the life of your alter-ego or resident of a parallel universe
Letter writing - We’re all familiar with “Dear Diary”, and that’s fine, but what about talking to your future self? Consoling your child-self? Writing to your unborn child or future generations? What about that jerk who didn’t keep 6 feet away from you at the store or the guy who cut you off in traffic? Don’t you want to tell them what you really think?
Hybrids are welcome and encouraged! The main thing is to create a habit of self-expression and abandon thoughts of perfection. Life is a rough draft.
The above list is by no means exhaustive - there are probably as many ways to journal as there are people in the world. Expressing your feelings in the written word is so much better than keeping them bottled up inside.
Arguments against journaling?
When people resist the suggestion to journal, the most common concern expressed is fear their writing will be read by others - children, parents or partners. My suggestion is pretty straightforward - destroy what you’ve written. If you are not writing for posterity, shred or burn your “entries”. It’s the act of writing your experiences that is therapeutic, so write as much as you can and whenever you feel the topic or language is too revealing for others’ eyes, destroy it. I say this as a committed longhand journal writer. The other option is to write on a password-protected device. Or invest in a lockbox.
Kayle Sandberg-Lewis holds a M.A. in Behavioral Medicine, the study of how what we do affects our well-being. She has over three decades experience in stress management and is board certified in neurofeedback, which she introduced to her practice in 1996. Kayle co-founded Hive Mind Medicine in 2019, where she currently offers neurofeedback to her clients. Telehealth consults are available.
Hive Mind Medicine blog posts are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. Please consult with your health care practitioner for personalized guidance. Click on the contact button below if you would like to schedule with one of our Hive Mind practitioners.