I stumbled upon these words last week: “Expressive writing is scientifically proven to improve health, increase optimism, and build resilience.”
It was in a short article about self care, and this statement was extolling the virtues of journaling at least five minutes a day. Wow! I knew that journaling was good for my soul, and I have recognized it as part of my own self-care, but the fact that it is scientifically proven to be beneficial in multiple aspects of health was news to me.
I felt compelled to journal about Harvey’s Alzheimer’s disease and how it affected him, me, and our family about three months after our family vacation to Costa Rica when I first noticed problems with his cognition. I had journaled sporadically in the past, usually as part of a spiritual discipline.
This was different. I HAD to write about what was happening to us.
It might have been partly because I couldn’t talk to anyone about it yet, and I had to get it out of my body somehow. So I found a blank journal, one given to me by a pharmaceutical representative, of red “leather,” spiral bound, lined, with ‘Lexapro’ embossed on the cover.
I didn’t stop. That was the first of six journals I filled during the eight years of Harvey’s illness.
My journals were where I could pour out my fears, my anxieties, my anger, my love, and my deep sadness. It was a safe place to ponder what this disease was doing to us as individuals, and as a family. I could talk myself through those emotions, and sometimes talk myself down.
Yes, I also used the journals to chronicle Harvey’s symptoms. This helped me remember what I needed to relate to his medical providers. It also served to help reconstruct those eight years when I crafted my memoir.
The scientifically proven benefits come from writing about your experiences and the emotions provoked by them. This is the “expressive writing” alluded to in the quote at the start of this post. Journaling, beyond giving an account of your day, is a way of processing your feelings about those events. This serves to create an understandable narrative, and to reduce your stress by confronting unpleasant emotions. The intensity of difficult emotions lessens over time as they become more understandable, and fit within a story. The more often you encounter the stressful situation in your journaling, the less intense the emotions become—exposure therapy.
A gratitude journal is helpful as well. Spending time each day reflecting on what you are thankful for leads to improved mental and physical health. I can attest that by journaling about all the ways people lent a hand to our family, my anxiety decreased.
Because I was skeptical about the claim of being scientifically proven, I had to research it. I found an easy-to-read article, here, that provided links to several scientific studies on the benefits of journaling. Beyond what I’ve discussed so far, the article lists improvement in immunity, memory, productivity, and relationships. I leave it to you to read the article. It will be well worth your time.
Research also shows that journaling in longhand has advantages over journaling on the computer. More parts of the brain are utilized, and the practice is better for mindfulness, generating ideas, and working through emotions—because it’s a slower process. But journal in the way with which you know you will follow through. You may even prefer to speak aloud and record a conversation with yourself.
So now that you know there are proven benefits of journaling, what are you waiting for?