Introduction
I am someone who has always had a paper and pencil near me. Growing up, I would write in one of my multiple "diaries.” When I was younger, I had no idea how useful and beneficial this habit is. I have been journaling for a big part of my life. To be completely honest, I do not journal every single day, but rather once or twice a week. This made me consider the value of journaling. Thus, I will present the findings of my research in this post.
Decreasing stress levels
Writing in my journal has become a coping mechanism for me. It turns out that my suspicion was supported by a JMIR Mental Health study. Researchers discovered that patients' anxiety was lessened by writing about stressful experiences, which also reduced their symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Self-growth and improvement
Park University conducted a study to see whether or not journaling could positively impact college students’ self-efficacy (belief in one's ability to perform a task) and their locus of control (belief of whether or not an individual is in control of his/her life). They discovered that everyone who journaled had higher levels of self-efficacy. They also discovered that journaling improved academic and cognitive performance. Therefore, journaling will make you feel more confident in your abilities and in turn, actually improve your academic scores.
Health benefits
Researchers Baikie and Wilhelm discovered that journaling for twenty minutes a day enhanced liver and lung function, lowered blood pressure, and strengthened the immune system.
Memory improvements
In an experiment by Klein and Boals, they discovered that using expressive writing (writing about one’s thoughts and feelings related to a stressful event) actually improved college students memory. They measured this through limiting intrusive thoughts and increasing Grade Point averages (GPA’s)
Conclusion
Writing this article was a lot of fun. I hope you liked it as much as I did! I hope that this inspires you to journal since I learned a lot.
Sources, Credits & Links
Decreasing stress levels source
Self-growth improvement source
Health benefits source
Memory improvements source
Post cover background image: Journaling aesthetic
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