Write as if Your Life Depended on it

Dear Diary: How Journaling Can Help Your Recovery
By Rick Ansorge

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train,” quipped Oscar Wilde, the celebrated 19th-century wit, author, poet and playwright. You don’t need to have a Wilde way with words to benefit from journaling, though. No matter what your skills as a writer, scribbling down your thoughts and feelings daily can help you gain a deeper, clearer understanding of yourself and the world.

It doesn’t matter if what you jot is grammatically (or politically) incorrect; the simple act of keeping a journal can do wonders for both physical and mental health. And it may be particularly useful if you’re struggling with addiction or another mental health disorder. “I think that anything that organizes your life and makes you introspective and also kind of slows down the urgency of a craving for a drug or behavior can be very helpful,” says Petros Levounis, MD, chair of the department of psychiatry at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and vice chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addictive Psychiatry. In his own practice, Dr. Levounis often gives patients exercises to complete before their next visit. “I’m a huge fan of homework,” he says. Some opt to keep a journal, which Levounis considers an important component of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a widely-used and effective therapy aimed at identifying, understanding and changing harmful patterns of thoughts and behaviors.

Dear Diary: How Journaling Can Help Your Recovery
It’s a great idea to keep a journal for yourself, says Levounis. But it can be especially helpful to share it with a therapist. “Reviewing your journal with your therapist can do a world of good,” Levounis says. When patients focus their journaling on a specific issue, Levounis has found that it can speed them along the road to recovery. “So I might say, ‘This week, let’s work on the intensity of your cravings. I want you to write down every time you have a craving and give it a score from one to 10,’” he explains. “That has the effect of showing the patient that not all cravings are created equal. So if you can resist a nine, maybe you can resist a seven, and so on.” Journaling might also help you get to the bottom of what triggers your cravings.
The Health Benefits of Journaling

Whether or not you decide to share your journal with a therapist, sponsor or anyone else, getting your feelings and thoughts down on paper (or typing them into a computer or tablet) can help tame stress, anxiety and depression, allowing you to achieve greater control of your emotions and improve overall health. Research shows that journaling can improve your physical health in these ways:

Strengthen immune function
Reduce blood pressure
Improve lung and liver function
Fewer days in the hospital
Boost mood and psychological well-being
Fewer depressive symptoms

In addition, a study of adolescents with emotional problems showed small but significant improvement in the teens’ overall well-being when they practiced expressive writing.
The Write Way

The longer and more consistently you keep a journal, the better. Aim to spend about 20 minutes a day writing, or if that sounds like too much, build up gradually over time, starting at just a few minutes daily. Whatever you do, don’t edit yourself or worry about spelling, punctuation or style. This is a time to let the words flow and to forget about any “should”s.

If you’re stuck for what to write about, you can choose a theme for the day, week or month. Try to keep going even if keeping a journal starts out feeling like a chore. As you become more comfortable with the daily practice of acknowledging your thoughts and feelings in both serious and light-hearted ways (there’s nothing that says this has to be tough or painful; you may find the words flow a lot more easily than you thought they would), you’ll get more joy out of expressive writing.

And if you’re not sure that daily writing is helping you, look back periodically at what you wrote and how you felt a few days, weeks or months earlier. As you get to know yourself better, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the situations and people that increase your feelings of happiness and confidence versus those that are toxic or encourage cravings. Because journaling engages your creative, imaginative and intuitive right brain – this is what allows you to see multiple points of view — it may even help you find solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems, including long-festering interpersonal difficulties.
Journaling as an Addiction Recovery Tool

When it comes to addiction, journaling is not only a great way to track your progress and improve motivation; it may even decrease the risk of relapse. Because the act of writing what’s happening and what you’re feeling forces you to think critically and, hopefully, be honest with yourself, it increases your accountability. So you may be less likely to use denial, excuse bad behavior or minimize poor decisions and their consequences.

Although keeping any kind of journal is better than not journaling at all, people in recovery may find these types especially helpful:

Stream-of-consciousness journal: Without making any attempt at editing yourself, simply sit down for a specified amount of time every day and write down whatever comes into your head.
Diary journal: Write down all of the day’s most important events and how you felt about them.
Gratitude journal: Count your blessings to encourage a more positive outlook, especially if you struggle with negativity.
Spiritual journal: Track your spiritual development to achieve a richer inner life.
Exercise/health journal: Record your physical activity every day and how you believe it’s improving your overall health. This journal could also include tracking what you eat and sleep and stress levels, as well as the symptoms for any chronic health conditions you may be managing.

Do you keep a journal? If so, have you found it helpful for your recovery? What kind of journal do you keep?