Journaling for Mental Health: How Writing Can Improve Your Mood

Author:

Emma Loker

B.S

Editor:

Ashley Pena

LCSW

Ever felt confused or overwhelmed by your own mind? There are days when racing thoughts make it hard to relax, concentration decreases and you feel mentally exhausted. In fact, on a busy day, this has likely happened to all of us. What’s important is knowing how to deal with this situation, so that it doesn’t affect your mental health. And yes, there is a very simple and time-tested way to cope with all this – and all you need is a pen and a piece of paper.

Journaling is a healthy way to express yourself. It’s really just a safe place to vent your thoughts and emotions, rather than keeping them bottled up inside. Whether you’re stressed, emotionally charged, or just want to vent about your day, writing it down – even just a few words – can actually help.¹

On this page, we’ll break down:

What is journaling?
Does writing in a journal improve your mood?
What are the benefits of journal writing for mental health?
How to start journaling for your mental health
Journaling prompts to support your well-being
Get mental health support at Mission Connection today

What Is Journaling?

Journaling is just writing what’s on your mind – no specific techniques are required. It could be a to-do list, a rant about your day, or even thoughts you’re still figuring out. The point is to take the mental overload and put it somewhere else. Some people do it every morning with coffee, others write things down when stress hits. However you do it, this is your private corner and it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else except you.

What Are the Different Forms of Journaling?

One of the best things about journaling? There are no rules – you get to make it work for YOU. Whether you’re someone who loves filling pages with deep thoughts or just wants to quickly check in with yourself, there’s a style that fits.² Let’s break down some of the most popular approaches so you can find what clicks:

1. Expressive Writing

Grab a notebook and let everything that’s bothering you out. You can write down how your day was, the little wins, or just your random thoughts. There are no specific rules or ways to do this. Actually, even 10 minutes of just writing (also known as “brain dump”) can make you feel much better. It helps process emotions and reduce stress.

2. Bullet Journaling

This form of journaling may be perfect if you are or want to be more organized. You can use short bullet points, symbols, and collections to track everything from daily tasks to mood changes. The creator of this method, Ryder Carroll, actually designed it specifically for people with busy, scattered minds.³ It’s a powerful method to enhance mental clarity.

3. Visual Journaling

Journaling doesn’t have to be all words. If you find it difficult to write down your thoughts or your emotions seem too complex, maybe this is the right form for you. It contains drawings, collages, or even just colors to express what you’re feeling. Sometimes, a quick sketch can help express your emotions better than paragraphs ever could. You might:

Express your mood as a weather pattern
Create a collage from magazine cutouts
Use different colored pens to represent emotions
Collect photos that tell your story

4. Gratitude Journaling

This method focuses on identifying things you are grateful for. Each day (or whenever you remember), write down a few things like (“My sister supported me today“) or even a simple one like (“The perfect pasta at lunch“). Research shows this practice can actually make your brain notice more positives over time.⁴ When you’re having a tough day, identifying and focusing on some positive things can boost your mood.

5. The Hybrid Approach

There is no exact way to journal. Maybe what you need is a mix of different methods. Some days you can make a gratitude list, other days you can draw or just write without any rules. What’s important is to find a way that works for you and helps you feel clearer and calmer. Remember: This is your safe, judgment-free place and even 30 seconds count as journaling. There are infinite ways to do this “right”.

Does Writing in a Journal Improve Your Mood?

Have you ever kept a diary when you were little and writing about your day in it made you feel better? The same thing happens with journaling as an adult. Expressing your thoughts and emotions on a piece of paper gives the burden a place to vent. This makes you feel relieved and makes the situation more manageable.

Science backs up what journalers have known for centuries – the simple act of writing about your thoughts and feelings can:

Lower your stress levels
Help with emotion regulation
Create awareness about situations that were frustrating you⁵

When you regularly put pen to paper, you don’t just give your thoughts a safe place to be, but you can also visualize them. In this way, you start to notice what triggers your stress, spot solutions you couldn’t see in the heat of the moment, and develop a kinder, more understanding relationship with yourself.

Just 10 minutes of writing can help with mood-boosting. However, the long-term benefits will be seen over time, as you make journaling a habit. It can actually make you more emotionally resilient.

What Are the Benefits of Journal Writing for Mental Health?

1. Reduces Emotional and Physical Tension

Keeping things inside creates a very heavy weight to carry. On the other hand, having a safe place to express everything that overwhelms you can be really helpful. When you dump all these thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper, it physically reduces tension in your body. Your shoulders can drop. Your jaw can unclench. Maybe that tightness in your chest eases. This is how your body responds to the simple act of getting things out instead of locking them up inside.⁵

2. Enhances Mental Clarity

When you write things down, you can go back to them when you feel calm. This can give you the chance to look at what happened with a different eye and maybe see other explanations. That argument with your partner? When you write it out, you might realize what actually bothered you wasn’t what they said, but that old insecurity it triggered. Problems that felt overwhelming become manageable when you see them on paper.

3. Helps Spotting the Patterns You Can't See Day-to-Day

A diary is a way of documenting thoughts, feelings, and events. This way, you keep track of things that you might otherwise have forgotten and, consequently, not understood. That afternoon frustration every Tuesday? Turns out it hits after meetings with your boss. The days you feel great? They usually follow nights when you go to bed before 11. Your journal becomes this mirror showing you connections between your habits, relationships, and moods that you’d never notice otherwise. Once you see them, you can actually do something about them.

4. Improves Mood and Emotional Well-being

When you consistently write about positive thoughts and feelings or things you are grateful for, you focus on the good. This can make you feel much happier and joyful. Journaling can also replace negative thoughts with positive ones, which will significantly improve your mood. An improved mood will lead to better long-term emotional well-being, which is a key factor that affects our everyday life.

5. Better Sleep and Cognitive Function

If your brain loves to replay the day’s stresses at 2 AM, journaling can be a game-changer. Spending just five minutes writing down what’s worrying you before bed can help manage the overthinking. You give your worries a safe place to be kept overnight, so you can deal with them tomorrow. Journaling makes you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling more rested, especially when you make this a nightly habit.⁶ Better sleep helps with cognitive functioning, like better decision-making or an improved memory.

How to Start Journaling for Your Mental Health

Before you start journaling, keep in mind that there is no right or wrong way to do this. There are only ways that work or don’t work for you. You can start by grabbing a pen and paper that you can have nearby and writing down whatever comes to mind at the moment. Maybe it’s “Work was really stressful today” or “I had a great time at the movies“. The important thing is to start somewhere.

When journaling starts to become a normal part of your routine, that’s when you’ll see the real difference. You can start tonight by writing about your day before you go to bed, expressing any sadness or happiness. Another day you can take a piece of paper and draw your feelings in different colors. It’s okay to have days when you feel like you can’t do this. Follow your own rhythm and needs. This is your safe place, with zero rules.

Journaling Prompts to Support Your Well-Being

If you don’t know where to start, this simple simple prompts can help you:

“What’s currently living in my head rent-free?” (That annoying conversation? The weird dream? That thing you wish you’d said?)
“What’s one thing I’m pretending not to know?” (About myself, a situation, someone else’s behavior)
“What would make today feel 10% lighter?” (A nap? Saying no to something? Going out for a walk?)

Some days you’ll want to go deeper:

“If my mood was weather, what would the forecast be?” (Cloudy with afternoon irritation? Unexpected sunshine?)
“What’s something I’ve been carrying that I could put down?” (An old regret? Others’ expectations? The need to be right?)
“What did little me need to hear that I can tell myself now?“

Journaling should be something that works for YOU, so start with what is most alive to you at this moment. Whatever comes to your mind counts and can be a good start.⁷

Get Mental Health Support at Mission Connection Today

Expressing your thoughts and feelings somewhere is essential for managing them well. Journaling is a simple, but very effective way, which can help. If you feel like you need more than that, at Mission Connection, we provide ongoing support through individual therapy, group sessions, and telehealth options, all designed to help you with your mental well-being.

Ready to take the next step? Start your journey with Mission Connection today.

References

WebMD. (2024, February 25). Mental health benefits of journaling. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-benefits-of-journaling
Sarkis, S. A. (2020, January 24). Learn new ways to journal so you can reduce stress and increase self-awareness. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/202001/discover-8-journaling-techniques-better-mental-health
Bullet Journal. (n.d.). Ryder Carroll. https://bulletjournal.com/pages/rydercarroll
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377
Sohal, M., Singh, P., Dhillon, B. S., & Gill, H. S. (2022). Efficacy of journaling in the management of mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Family Medicine and Community Health, 10(1), e001154. https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2021-001154
Scullin, M. K., Krueger, M. L., Ballard, H. K., Pruett, N., & Bliwise, D. L. (2018). The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(1), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000374
Madeson, M. (2020, June 14). Self-esteem journals, prompts, PDFs, and ideas. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/self-esteem-journal-prompts/