The Effects of Journaling and Emotional Wellness on Overall Health
Submitted as an assignment in SWU 250
There are many different mindfulness practices out there, and it would be worthwhile to try out different ones to get an idea of what works best for each individual. Are there any health benefits to journaling? Accordingly, why should emotional wellness be an essential aspect of our daily lives? This is a look at if journaling has any correlation with emotional wellness, and how they both improve our overall health.
(Crawford et al., 2021) promotes the idea of “mindfulness as education” and looks to study how people experience the world to make the point that the focus should be on experience instead of abstract research. Journaling can be seen throughout the centuries through the works of influential people and can be viewed as a record of inner thoughts. Baldwin (2007, as cited in Crawford et al., 2021) expands the definition as “not just about recording objective facts about the day’s events; it involves subjective contemplation.” A person writing about his day would be chronicling what happened through his own point of view while probably including his own thoughts and feelings about what took place. Therefore, journaling is a practice that is unique to each person. A study was conducted with fifth and sixth graders and gave them the opportunity to write in a private diary during a designated school hour and at home. Once the study was over, the researchers found that the students had an overall positive view of the habit. Some felt journaling helped them relax, while others said it was pleasant; some felt it helped their mental health, and others found comfort through it (Crawford et al., 2021). The overall benefits gleaned from this study show that journaling can allow a person to be self-aware in that moment, express individuality, improve self-esteem, and gain some personal insight that may foster growth (Crawford et al., 2021).
I used to write in a journal almost every day when I was in upper elementary and junior high, and I felt that it helped me express myself at times when I didn’t want to talk about things or share them with others. It was a way for me to unwind and get things off my chest, and in a way, I feel that it was a comfort for me. While I don’t write in a physical journal anymore, I do find it beneficial from time to time to type my thoughts out on the notes app or in Word so that I will have a record of my thoughts around a particular event. I feel that journaling is a great mindfulness tool for me that I should take time to do more often.
The National Institute of Health defines emotional wellness as “the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times” (NIH, 2022). (Garrosa et al., 2022) decided to take a study of what helps relieve stress and workplace issues and chose to look at emotional wellness. The two factors that were found to increase emotional wellness are optimism and recovery (Garrosa et al., 2022). Optimism is a state of mind that requires the individual to be motivated and expectant of positive results; it most likely will be depleted through the stresses of the day and needs to be worked on during personal hours (Garrosa et al., 2022). Relating to optimism, recovery is a daily need, otherwise there is a risk of mental and physical problems. Recovery can come in various forms dependent on the person and adding psychological detachment (from work/negative factors etc.) is noted as a healthy byproduct of the recovery process (Garrosa et al., 2022). A study was conducted by having the participants take three surveys a day for five days after waking up, after work, and before bed. The questions dealt with sleep quality, work stress and problems, and the levels of optimism and recovery that took place after the job. The conclusion from the study results showed that emotional wellness practices were found to greatly reduce the effects of burnout on the participants (Garrosa et al., 2022).
From this study, I can see that emotional wellness/health is an area that I can improve on. Much of the time I will stay late at work or bring work problems home with me in my head and not let myself take a true break and relax. While that can work for a short while, eventually I will hit a wall. A way that journaling can be incorporated into emotional wellness for me is that I can get my thoughts out about a circumstance, physically and mentally put that away, and allow myself to do something I enjoy (like watch a show).
From this exploration of the effects of journaling and emotional wellness, I can see the necessity of putting mindfulness practices into place daily. There is so much that happens in any given day, that it is important for each person to find ways to balance and reset themselves. These practices deal with mental and emotional health and are not all inclusive; there are also physical and social health needs that should be met often as well.
References
Crawford, A., Sellman, E., & Joseph, S. (2021). Journaling: A More Mindful Approach to Researching a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in a Junior School. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211014771
Garrosa, E., Blanco-Donoso, L. M., Moreno-Jiménez, J. E., McGrath, E., Cooper-Thomas, H. D., & Ladstätter, F. (2022). Energy Loss After Daily Role Stress and Work Incivility: Caring for Oneself with Emotional Wellness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(8), 3929–3959. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00570-x
National Institute of Health. (2022). Emotional Wellness Toolkit. https://www.nih.gov/health-information/emotional-wellness-toolkit#:~:text=Emotional%20wellness%20is%20the%20ability,to%20change%20and%20difficult%20times.
