Is writing in a journal healthy for one who is depressed?

Question

I thought it would be a good outlet to vent my frustrations - however - I read some where recently that this can only add to the stress - which is true?

Answer 1

i think writing a journal is very healthy for someone who is depressed for a number of reason, alothough i would have never wrote one myself as i guess i would have never ever though of doing this process, i guess it just because when im depressed i just want to curl up in a ball and die, shut myself off to the world and just lay curled up in a ball willing my life to come to an end.

but i guess fortunatily when i was addmited to hospital again under a section i was askedby my nurse as part of my care plain to write a daily journal, every day so if a depty ward manager who was my named nurse asked me to do one yes it is a good good idea, i personaly dont think it can add to your stress, unless like me your being asked to do this, as i know there was days that i really did not want to to write in the journal but was told it was part off my care plan grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr lol.

(1) writting in this journal made me aware and more able to vent my anger out to a piece of paper

(2) i was able to put stuff inside that i felt that i wasnt able to talk to my named nurse about

(3) this help strenghan our relationship, as she could read what i felt like i couldnt talk to her or want to talk to her, so she knew when to stay well clear lol.

(4) i could also shove this in my shrinks face and say for gods sake read this then you will bloody well be able to take in what im feeling, instead off pretending then sending me out off the room 5 min later

(5) when i started to get better, realise what i was going through how my mind interpreted things, how depression makes you bloody interprate things and how it can play tricks with your mind that you kinda doing anyhow

(6) when you start to feel depressed to re read your journal, and realise the patten you are going into that nasty cycle again and get help before its to late and that eveil depression has hit you hard again.

(7) to motivate yourself to change things for the better alowing yourself to try and change things for the better

(8) and finaly you can shout scream swear and be pissed off with anybody without emotionaly upseting them and most importantly, yourself.

i mean how many times you got angry with someone and wished you aint said that to them and feel 200,000 times depressed even more for being that way.

i think personaly go ahead write your journal and vent out all your frustrations, it can only but help.

and that what you read that this can only add to stress is complete rubbish.GOOD LUCK WITH WHAT EVER YOU CHOOSE TO DO ITS YOU PERSONAL CHOICE AND NOBODY'S ELSE'S. GOOD LUCK.XXXXXXXXX

Answer 2

In a way it depends on how you treat the situation. Blogging is an easy way to relief yourserlf from stress to a certain point. I believe however what the article meant about adding to your stress level is that when you read what you already wrote and get depressed over it all over again. Something like a reminder of the bad old days..

I'm somewhat of a depressed person myself and i have made a blog to help me vent my frustration as you would put it. However I will not read what i wrote again untill i feel better or the problem is over with. This way when i do read my blogs again i just laugh or just feel nothing of what i wrote.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you let it be a problem to you then it will be one. So try to think positively about it and build a new life which is happier.

Talk to a family member or a friend who can listen about your problems is another way to help out on stress. Leading a healthy lifestyle like taking up a hobby which really interest you, go for jogs or a walk in the park(if you have any around your area) Eating a certain type of food will also helps your body produce those chemicles thats makes your body and mind feel happy(for lack of the right word). LoL even answering these questionaires at yahoo helps improve my mood.

So sorry that i kinda went off topic but hope it helps, take care and have a nice day.

Answer 3

It depends on how you manage your Journal. It can be therapeutic if used the correct way.

If you're using it Springboard, you're going through a healing process where you can branch away from those bad thoughts. If you're using it as a Trampoline, it means you're just harping on the same issues continuously.

Even if it doesn't seem to be doing the author any good, it can still be a useful tool in pinpointing where the author's thoughts lie. People will tend to write about whatever interests them most in their Journals.

Happy people will focus on happy thoughts. Music fanatics will talk about music. Religious people will talk about their Religion. Angry people will write about who pisses them off.

You can tell a lot about a person's Journal based off of how they construct their sentences and string words together. Negative people use negative words like won't or can't.

If you know what Signs to look for, you can review your Journal and run a Self-Diagnostic on yourself. Sometimes it helps when you can step back and see where you stand. If you look back at your Journal months later, you can see where you are.

If you want to check your yearly progress, you can check your Journal exactly one year ago and see what you were talking about on that day. Then you can compare to see if your life has changed in that year.

Writing a Journal is definitely better than bottling it up inside. If it's just kept inside, it will just fester. Writing is also good practice for your mind so that it can strengthen its reasoning skills in how it copes with information.

When you can see words on a page, it's concrete vs. having it floating around in your head. If things are just floating around in your head, you may never get around to finding a cure or solution.

Answer 4

It can be healthy but it has to be done right. You can just vent everything that upsets you. You must record the positive too.

For each day, put an entry for what went wrong and put in something that went well. The good bits might be harder to think of but they are the most important. It will give you hope and pick you up. Also it will remind you of that little thing when you read over it again and help you build up your spirit. Anyway, the more you work at it, the easier it will be to find good things about the day. It will spiral in a positive direction because it puts you more in control of how you feel.

Answer 5

I believe that it is very healthy to get those emotions out. There may not be someone around at the time you need to vent but you can always write about it. And the cool thing is, when you start to feel healthier (mentally) you can go back and read what you wrote at the times you weren't at your best. You can see day by day how you got by and track your progress. I look back at my journaling and artwork from when I was deeply depressed. And when I look at it now I am very proud of myself for coming out of my dark times.

Answer 6

Healthy if you use it in the right way, use it as a form of expression, a vent for all your thoughts. Don't obsess about it and read old entries to spiral downwards. It should be used to reflect with when you are feeling better, you will then think " I felt like that once look how much better I am now" or when really well learn more about yourself and what you start doing or thinking when relapsing. Good luck! x

Answer 7

Yes but try to emphasise the positive. Go and see your GP if you think you may be clinically depressed. Ring The Samaritans on
08457 90 90 90 for the price of a local call.

Talk to friends and don't take refuge in alcohol or drugs.

Good Luck. I'll say a prayer for you.

Answer 8

my gut feeling is to ditch the journal. Sitting around a room writing about how awful you feel will only make you dwell on all the bad stuff. Get out and find some interesting things to do that will open new doors and give you a chance to be happy.

Answer 9

Write the journal, to vent only. Don't reread it until you're ready. If you reread it, you're reliving the stress, which adds to it. It is also good to write poetry expressing your feelings, but also healthy to write about daydreams and whatever makes you happy, or would make you happy. Do a balance if you can.

Answer 10

I was seriously depressed, I wrote everything down from as far back as I could remember, I think to find out why I felt that way... It helped me to work through it and to stop worrying about things in the past I couldnt change... It was only then I realised I'd been baseing most of my life on past experience and it was stopping me moving on.... Its good to write, but only if you're prepared to face the truth about yourself. I realised the only one that had really held me back in my life was me...
Everyone is different though, so good luck with it...

Answer 11

I think it might depend on the particular person.
I have bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, and I keep a journal.
I don't necessarily write in it everyday, but I do find it VERY helpful.
It's good for me to get my thoughts and angers out on paper......less likely to take it out on some random person.