Journaling is becoming more and more popular, and not without reason. Here are just some of the scientifically backed results:
Emotional Release: Writing about personal experiences can help process emotions and reduce stress. A study by Pennebaker & Beall (1986) found that students who wrote about their thoughts and feelings around trauma reported better mood and fewer visits to health services.
Stress Management: Smyth et al., (1999) show that journaling can decrease symptoms of health conditions like asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, suggesting a connection between stress and expressive writing.
Improved Immune Function: Pennebaker’s studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s also found that writing can improve immune function, suggesting the process of writing may affect the body’s capacity against stress and infection.
Cognitive Functioning: Writing has also been connected with improved memory and cognitive processing. Klein & Boals (2001) found that writing about traumatic events helped people process the events and reduced intrusive thoughts.
Better Sleep: A study by Harvard Medical School found that gratitude journaling before bed can help you sleep better as it helps positive thinking and relaxation.
Mood Improvement and Reduced Symptoms of Depression: A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in 2013 showed that participants reported lower levels of depression after only a few sessions of writing.
Enhancement of Psychological Well-Being: Journaling can improve mental health, including reduced depressive symptoms, more positive mood and general life satisfaction, according to a study by Seligman et al. (2005).
These studies are just a sample, and only cover the scientific side. The anecdotal evidence is overwhelmingly positive, and especially for something that requires so little time from us.
(Photo by Brad Neathery on Unsplash.)