This is what my own personal depression journal looks like. It's a White Fairy Journal that I purchased from Azuregreen for $14.95.
If you are suffering from chronic or severe depression, there are some things that you can do to try to make yourself feel more in control of the situation. A depression journal or depression diary can help you to document your daily moods and feelings. This can be very helpful for people who are suffering from depression and anxiety.
Journaling is the practice of recording your daily thoughts, feelings and the events of your life. A journal is usually,but not always, in the form of a written diary.
Keeping a journal or diary is a great way to free troubling and frustrating thoughts from your mind and put them on paper. A depression journal can help you work through these troubling thoughts. People with depression who write journals report that journaling has been very therapeutic for them.
Depression journals don’t have to be in a written form. A depression diary can contain pictures or paintings. Everyone should journal in the way it is most meaningful for them. If you want to express your depression with drawings and sketches, go for it.
How Can Writing a Depression Journal Help Me?
Depression is often described as rage turned inwards. If you keep your feelings all bottled up, your depression and anxiety will become worse. A journal allows you to transfer and release these negative thoughts.
A journal can become a safe place for you to record your private thoughts and feelings. A depression journal can help you blow off steam and toss away your negative vibrations and phobias.
I remember a very philosophical line from the awesome HBO series, Six Feet Under. Nathanial Sr. said to David, “You hang on to your pain like it means something. Like it’s worth something. Well, let me tell you – it’s not worth shit.” Use your depression journal to let some of your pain go!
If you have a terrible day and need to dump out your negative energy, your journal won’t judge you. You can vent all you want. Journaling will become a daily ritual, a regimen and a mental exercise.
Are There Health Benefits of Keeping a Depression Diary?
- Recording your daily symptoms and tracking your mood changes can help you identify triggers that can worsen your depression.
- Write about how your medications and treatments are helping you. Sometimes the devil is in the details. Keeping a journal can help your doctor make you better. You’ll be able to document whether a medication or treatment is working or not.
- Journaling is proven to be a natural help for depression. Therapists highly recommend journaling as an important part of the path to recovery. Journaling compares favorably to other stress reduction techniques like exercise, yoga and meditation.
- Keeping a journal can improve cognitive functioning. Journaling can be an important part of cognitive therapy.
- Keep a record of doctor visits, medications, milestones, and breakthroughs.
- Studies have shown that journaling boosts your immune system and counteracts the negative impact of stress and anxiety.
Can a Journal Help You End Your Depression?
Yes! Your journal will be your trusted friend. Your journal won’t judge you or argue with you or tell you to just “suck it up.”
You can write about what you are grateful for. Depression can make you feel very self-centered. Your pain is so great that you can no longer see the good in anything else. This is a huge problem for those of us who suffer from chronic or severe depression. It’s a catch 22 situation because negativity breeds more negativity. If you try to write about a few things that you are grateful for, your mind will be forced to think of something positive.
A journal can help you return to the land of the living. Keeping a diary or journal, along with therapy or other treatments, can be a powerful weapon to fight depression.
Mental and Emotional Benefits of Writing a Depression Journal
Journaling can help you gain an understanding of yourself and your life. Journaling can help you in many ways including:
- Personal Development
- Helping you solve difficult problems
- Brainstorming
- Gaining Clarity in Your Life
- Finding out What is Real and What Isn’t
- Looking Back at Older Entries to Track Your Progress
- Exploring Your Goals and Dreams – What do you Want out of Life?
- Helping yourself Deal with Stress
- Gaining Valuable Self-Knowledge
Spiritual Benefits of Keeping a Depression Diary
- Gives you control over your situation
- Provides an outlet your feelings – sometimes you can’t talk to your family and friends about certain things
- Writing things down helps to reveal the underlying causes and sources
- Problem solving- Identify what is truly bothering you
- Putting out your worries may help you to better deal with them or even let them go
- A lot of times, we remember things differently than the way it actually happened. Journaling can help you remember the past more accurately
- You’ll describe your feelings when they actually happen so you’ll have an accurate log of the events that took place in your life
Starting a Depression Diary is the Hardest Part
When you first sit down and start to journal, you may not know what to write about. You may sit and stare at a blank page for an hour! That’s okay though. The important thing is that you’ve decided to start a journal.
If your mind is blank, try writing about the following things:
- Positive things that happened to you today
- Negative things that happened to you today
- What are your hopes, dreams and goals for the future? Where do you want to be in the future?
- Did you have any milestones or accomplishments today? Write about even the smallest triumph
- Rate your moods and emotions
- Describe today’s weather and how it made you feel
- Write about what you ate for dinner
When you start to journal, it’s not really about what you write; it’s that you are writing it. Start with small and safe thoughts, you can amp it up later once you get your writing flow in groove.
What Kind of Depression Journal Should I Buy?
There are many types of journals. You should find one that reflects your unique personality. You can buy one of those cool looking locked diaries like you had when you were a teenager. You can use a scrapbook or just make your own journal. A diary can be as simple as a notebook or a binder. Or it can be an elaborately created masterpiece with beautiful fabrics and parchment paper pages. A journal can be plain, beautiful or flamboyant. It can be white, black or a rainbow of colors. Select a journal that makes you feel happy when you look at it.
You don’t have to have a physical journal. You can journal via your computer. You can even make your journal public by creating a blog. Blogger.com and WordPress provide free blogs to their users. Sharing your blog with others can help you and help them. Keeping an online blog or depression blog may bring you friends who also suffer from chronic depression. Some people even make money if their depression blogs become popular. You may even get a book deal!
Set Up a Daily Routine or Ritual for Your Journaling
Journaling should be done on a daily basis. Strive to journal for at least 30 minutes each night. Find a comfortable area to write. If you love candles and they relax you, buy some pretty ones. Light them before you write In your journal. Candles can help you focus your mind.
Prepare a soothing hot drink. Put on your pajamas and make yourself a cup of hot cocoa or herbal tea. Hot drinks can be very comforting. It’s important to be relaxed when you journal or blog. You want to be comfortable writing about your most intimate thoughts.
Soft music can help release thoughts from your mind. Play some relaxing music that will stabilize your mood. I find it helps to play music that I enjoyed during a happier period in my life. I loved the 80’s so I enjoy playing popular songs from the 80’s era while I journal. Don’t listen to any sad songs; I find that catchy songs like “My Sharona” by the Knack or “Top of the World” by the Carpenters help me get into a positive mood for journaling.
Try journaling about your depression for a few weeks. You may be surprised at how helpful a depression journal can be..
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