Did you know that journaling is beneficial to mental well-being? You're right. Are you looking to begin but don't know how to begin a journal for your mental health? It's not a problem. Journaling to keep track in our health and mental well-being is a wonderful practice, and it is widely recommended by therapists across the globe. But starting a journal is an issue for many. In a perfect world we'd just open a blank notebook and our most intimate thoughts would flow onto the paper which would instantly make us feel more relaxed. It does not happen this way. Journaling requires practicing. In this article, we will talk about what you should write about when journaling, the importance of journaling to manage emotions, and journaling to manage anxiety specifically and give you some journaling prompts that can be helpful and ideas for getting started.

But first, what is mental health?

When people discuss psychological health issues, they are more likely to discuss it in terms of it being the exclusion or absence of mental illnesses rather than the existence in mental wellness. In other words, mental health refers to the absence of depression, anxiety chronic stress, and other ailments. Of course this isn't a mistake.

But, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) mental health is "a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community."

If you think of this concept, with the majority of us who are juggling work deadlines, family commitments parental anxiety, financial pressures and the expectations of society and mental health is a major concern. There may be a sense that we're achieving our full potential, and dealing with the daily demands of life can be extremely exhausting. In the end, we might struggle to remain active in our work and to contribute as well as we'd prefer to contribute to our relationships with our family and acquaintances. There is no indication that we suffer from depression or anxiety, as such however, we may have a tendency to feel depressed or anxious frequently.

Sound like you? If so, then read this article for those who want to tackle the issue by learning how to keep a journal to improve your mental health.

HOW can journaling HELP in addressing mental HEALTH?

Why should you keep a journal? Journaling has so many possibilities that answering this question in detail will take longer than what you would like to spend. Journaling suggestions include planning and organizing our days to organizing and planning our thoughts. Journals can be used to boost productivity by organizing the tasks we have to complete or even journal to keep ourselves motivated by making notes of our goals and making the habit tracker.

For effective journaling to improve our mental well-being, we can utilize journaling to manage various emotions. Being able to manage emotions can help us control stress, change the way we view difficult situations, and select constructive actions when we're not feeling it. In many ways, writing can be a form of therapy.

Dealing with emotions

The ability to manage emotions is among the most valuable skills we can develop. The ability to manage emotions is proven to increase resilience, control anxiety and boost the quality of life and happiness when done in the right manner. It is possible to manage emotions such as anger, anxiety, stress, or simply being overloaded with obligations and deadlines.

Emotions are the main factor in our behavior. If that emotion is good it is a good thing for us. However, in the event that the emotion isn't optimal, it can create a problem. Being reactive to our emotions could lead to depression, anxiety, stress and even doing or saying things that later regret. If we can learn to manage our emotions effectively and effectively, we can are better prepared to make the best choices. Your journal is an excellent spot to learn this.

If we're unable to manage our emotions in a healthy way mental health is affected. Anxiety, stress, anger and other emotions overtake us, and lead us into a sense of feeling helpless.

REMOVING IT your chest

To deal with our emotions the most effective thing we can do is to talk with others about it. However, this isn't always possible or appropriate for all. There may be no one who you trust, you might be uncomfortable, or you may be an introvert. Journaling can be a means to discuss your concerns without necessarily discussing it. This is the reason we call writing therapy'. Your journal is your trusted friend and your valve for releasing pressure. Instead of speaking with an individual, writing down the issue to process it was found to be equally beneficial.

Labelling is THE SINGLE most effective method to deal with emotions

One of the most simple methods we can employ to reduce the impact of emotions is to practice "labelling". Labelling simply means giving the feeling a brief description. Research on this topic is compelling.

Research has shown that students suffering from anxiety about performance before exams could experience up to 10% reduction in their test scores. If those people talk about how they're experiencing prior to their exam this drop of 10% is totally negligible. However, there is an option for these students to do better. Instead of speaking about their feelings when they feel it, if they write the details in a concise manner, not only will they be able to counter the drop in performance and increase the scores of their tests by another 5percent. This is an increase of 15% all due to the effectiveness of writing.

Controlling the emotion (in this case, anxiety) and addressing it in a certain manner helps people stay at peace and utilize their capabilities to perform at their top performance.

USING YOUR JOURNAL to deal with emotions

How, in practice, can we accomplish this in our journals? There are many ways to accomplish this task, but as with many things in journaling, there are times when the easiest is the most effective.

It's good to set aside suggestions to help you write otherwise you could end up becoming confused and not being able to know where you should begin Here are the top prompts we've tried.

The very first and simplest one is as follows:

"Right Now I am having a feeling ......"

... then then you go ahead and write down the things you really feel. It could be one word or five words, but be sure to keep it short and concise.

HOW TO JOURNAL ANXIETY

We receive a lot of questions on how to utilize a journal to help with anxiety, and we'd like to discuss this in detail.

Anxiety, just feeling anxious?

There's a huge distinction between being anxious or being anxious. There are times when we feel anxious, such as whenever a certain situation comes up such as stress due to the upcoming deadline and workloads that overwhelm us, deadlines or financial challenges. When we are nervous, it's due to the fact that we're concerned about something that might (or could) occur in the near future. But, anxiety can develop after the stressor or situation is gone however, we are left with anxiety-like feelings that persist, even though we may not know why.

Based on Beyond Blue the website Beyond Blue, anxiousness is among the top prevalent mental health problem in Australia. The website describes it in the following manner:

"Anxiety involves more than being worried or stressed. Though anxiety and stress are typical responses to situations where you feel pressured They usually disappear once the stressful event has ended or the stressor is eliminated. Everybody experiences anxiety at times. If anxious feelings do not disappear, occur without any reason, or cause difficult to manage everyday life, it could be an indication of an anxiety disorder. ."

In our case for this article, we're not planning to be overly restrictive about the difference between clinical anxiety and anxiety: when journaling it is possible to use several of the same techniques to deal with both.

How can journaling Help ANXIETY?

If we write down our anxiety in a journal it can help us in two important ways.

In the first place, anxiety can be caused by self-talk. It is the dialogue that we engage in about what's going on or what's about to occur. When we're experiencing stress our thoughts begin to become a burden to us. We begin to panic and form assumptions about our circumstances that could not be accurate. The people who tend to be more likely to be anxious tend to imagine the worst. However, journaling can aid in reducing in overcoming self-talk. Journaling can be a way to clarify the things you're saying to yourself, and to challenge your self-talk. If we can take this step, it puts the self-talk into perspective and provides us with an impartial perception of what we're saying.

A second aspect of managing anxiety, or any stress for that matter is to feel a sense of control. Control is achieved through finding strategies or solutions to manage an overwhelming situation. The issue is that when we operate with our emotional brain, we struggle to think rationally and figure out a plan of escape. Journaling helps us to process our emotions and allows us to plan out and achieve an impression of control. It makes us contemplate what our options could be. The writing process is the perfect tool to do this.