You may have heard about the benefits of keeping a diary or journaling and how that can help in different areas of your life, but you might be wondering if there are any benefits that the art of writing can bring to your life if you’re suffering from depression, and if so, how?
Today, we’re going to take a detailed look into what writing can do for you if you experience depression, and how you can get started right now to start reaping those benefits.
What are the Benefits of Writing with Depression?
There are lots of different benefits that writing can provide, and of course, many of these will depend on who you are as an individual, and what part of your depression you’re using the art of writing to manage. However, these are pretty common benefits across the board.
Reduce Anxiety
Anxiety erupts when your mind spins off on a tangent, and you’re not thinking about the present, but instead on hypothetical situations or worrying about the past and future. By writing about what makes you anxious, you can start to understand it better.
Setting Future Goals
Depression is a mental health condition which can stop you from feeling at all positive about the future, and can reduce you to feeling aimless and without direction, which then doubles back and fuels the depression further.
Writing down goals you’d like to achieve for yourself, whether they’re related to managing your depression or just noting things you want to do in your life, can be a great way to stay on track and help you stay motivated with purpose.
Positive Self-Talk
Depression can make you think badly of yourself, so it’s important that you focus on the positives in your life and of who you are as an individual. This can be difficult to do in your own head, but writing down three positive things happening in your life is a great way to help you remain present.
Reduce Stress
“Life can be stressful and hard for everyone, especially if you’re suffering from depression, and it can be easy to lose focus on what’s going on and to stay grounded. This can be incredibly stressful, especially when these thoughts are going around and around in your head” explains Amy Carter, a psychology writer for Eliteassignmenthelp and UK Writings.
By writing down your thoughts and feelings, you can clear your mind and stop feeling this way, which ultimately helps relieve unwanted stress to ensure you stay calm and present.
How to Start Writing to Manage Your Depression
If these all sound like the kind of benefits you want to bring into your own life, then you’re probably wondering how to get started. This is what we’ll talk about in the remainder of this post.
Find a Dedicated Place to Write
The first thing you’ll want to do is to give yourself a place to start writing. This means getting a dedicated journaling book and then a place in your home where you can sit and write in peace. You won’t want to be disturbed. Finding a dedicated place is great for training your brain over time to get into the healthy habit of writing.
Start Daily
You’ll get the most benefits from your writing practice if you form the habit of writing daily. Try and set an appropriate time every day when you’ll be able to write and then try and do it every day for a week. Then try it every day for the next week. Just take small, baby steps.
Be Free with Your Writing
While there’s a ton of different ways you could format and write your depression journal, there’s really no right or wrong way to go about it, and you have the freedom to do what you want.
“Whether you want to follow the format and layout of what someone has shared, or you just want to bullet point how you’re feeling, or write a short story or poem, or a mixture of everything, don’t feel pressured to write a certain way, and just do what you want” shares Mark Harris, a health blogger for Boom Essays and Essay Roo.
Use Helpful resources
If writing is something you haven’t done in a long time, it can seem like a bit of a daunting practice to get your head around and you’re sure to question whether you’re doing it ‘right.’ Again, there is no right or wrong way to go about it, but if you’re looking for a bit more guidance, check out State of Writing for more help.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are plenty of ways you can incorporate writing into your life to help you manage your depression. The most important thing to remember is to do what feels comfortable and right for you. Find your own style and way of expressing yourself, and open yourself up to the possibility of enjoying yourself!
Author Bio: Freddie Tubbs is a blog writer and editor at Paper Fellows. He regularly takes part in psychology and spirituality events, and contributes posts to Academized and Australian help blogs.
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
The opinions and views expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of www.rtor.org or its sponsor, Laurel House, Inc. The author and www.rtor.org have no affiliations with any products or services mentioned in this article or linked to herein.
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I feel this is very relevant and important in my life. I’ve used various journals over the course of a couple years that helped tremendously with my mood and introspection.