How Keeping a Journal Can Turn Your Life Around

The journal's power in aiding mental health is well-established. For many years, the unassuming journal has always been a favorite go-to present during gift-giving seasons. Aside from being a relatively affordable gift, its use can span a wide range of creativity and passion, from a simple lined notebook to help friends take stock of their emotional well-being to an outlet for their artistic expression. The act of journaling in itself, however, has consistently been proven to improve the quality of life in a myriad of ways.

In a 1994 study on the use of expressive writing as a way to cope with job loss, Texas-based Stefanie Spera, Eric Buhreind, and James Pennebaker observed 63 newly-unemployed professionals after a large-scale layoff from the large computer and electronics firm they worked for. The subjects had been unemployed for 5 months beginning the start of the experiment, with each subject falling under one of three groups: an experimental writing group, a control writing group, and a control non-writing group.

In the non-writing control group, the participants were left to their own ways of dealing with job loss while both writing groups were required to keep journals over a set period of time. For the experimental writing group, the participants were encouraged to write more on their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding the layoff and how their lives had been affected. The control writing group (sometimes referred to as the non-trauma group), on the other hand, took a less personal direction and had the participants write about their plans for the day and set goals for the job search instead.

The difference in results was astounding.

While it was originally planned for the study to end a year after, the study had to be stopped short due to the notable lead between the control groups and the experimental writing group. Throughout the writing phase of the experiment, the researchers discovered that the participants who were encouraged to confront their thoughts and feelings surrounding their layoffs were rehired at a significantly higher rate than those in either control group, solidifying the effectivity of journaling as a therapy tool for ages to come.

But while journaling as a tool to help improve mental health is not a novel idea, it continues to gain popularity among younger, high-paced generations like the so-called Millenials. The self-care movement, in particular, has contributed greatly to the rise of self-help and productivity gurus. Bullet journaling, though originally developed to be minimalistic by Ryder Caroll, made strides in Tumblr and Instagram when students caught on to a more visual and artistic approach to the productivity method. Going by Spera and co.'s study, this might put the effectivity of the bullet journal in addressing mental health and performance into question but a balance of both expression and functionality could steer someone in the right direction.

However, aside from emotional and psychological expression, journaling can be used to keep track of day-to-day activities and even health concerns. In a New Zealand study, the research found that expressive writing could even help physical wounds to heal faster. Elizabeth Broadbent, a co-author of the study, suggests the power being writing about distressing events. By writing down the details, participants were able to make sense of the events surrounding their malaise, thereby reducing distress and disruptive hormones associated with stress, such as cortisol.

In fact, there is a myriad of journaling techniques people could use to address different needs. Gratitude journals and 5-minute journaling are popular methods among celebrities and the average civilian alike to keep themselves grounded and happy. Art journals and makeshift sketchbooks are also viable choices for the less eloquent individual. 

So when receiving yet another journal as a present for the next year, consider all the ways it could be of use to anyone other than the dust bunnies in a forgotten pile of notebooks.