“Journaling can help smooth you down and pull you up, until you’re standing straight and tall once again.” haven’t journaled before, you will probably doubt that you can do it and question if it will help. Try to trust that it can and will. At the very least, you have nothing to lose by giving it a bash. Try to write with your depression and not against it. Write about what you are actually feeling, rather than what you wish or think you should be feeling.
FREE WRITING As you journal, make sure you’re moving forward rather than staying stuck. If you find yourself endlessly pondering on the same old problem in the same old way, have a go at free writing. This may help you think of new options and possibilities. Free writing involves choosing a topic or using a writing prompt (e.g., a question, a quotation, a poem), and writing continuously for a chosen period of time. It’s writing without thinking as a “stream of consciousness”, reflecting on both your life and the world in general. It’s important not to take journaling too seriously. It’s not another chore in our lives (although it may seem like that to start with). Rather, it’s a form of release and a way to express ourselves. It’s something that can lift our mood and perhaps add a ray of light to our darkest days.
FURTHER READING Writing through the Darkness: Easing your Depression with Paper and Pen E.M. Schaefer
MY STORY JOURNALING HAS BEEN A PART OF MY LIFE FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS. I started the practice as a component of my spiritual journey, recording on a daily basis where I was spiritually and emotionally. As a result, when I became depressed five years ago, I had a wonderful tool to help me through my most trying hours. My depression occurred so suddenly that I didn’t know what had hit me. I thought I had contracted malaria as I was living in a malariaendemic area at that time, but the test was negative. I then assumed that I was just tired and needed to take a break. However, as soon as I started to rest, I crashed completely and was diagnosed six weeks later with depression due to burnout. Unfortunately, I was resistant to medication and, instead of getting better, my depression deepened. Eventually, my GP referred me to
a psychiatrist, and after a hospital admission and numerous medication changes, I managed to stabilize my mood. During this time, my journal was my closest companion – my truest friend who was always by my side. I was often desperate to express myself, but unable to confide in anyone. However, in my journal I could write about my worst pain and biggest anxieties. When things felt the most hopeless, journaling gave me the courage to face another day. – Elmarie Potgieter Elmarie is a life coach based in Johannesburg and is on Thrive’s Panel of Experts. See page 5.
Journaling helps us become more conscious of our thoughts and therefore better able to choose our actions. Emotions are often processed at an unconscious level. Journaling helps bring these emotions to consciousness, allowing us to process and integrate them, and consequently lessening their power over us. Journaling can be a place to vent and get whatever it is that is bothering us off our chests. It clears out our “mental trash”, making space for creative processes.
Angela Hough-Maxwell Psychologist, Cape Town Spring2013 | 37