When people picture journaling, they often picture long, beautiful pages written in a nice notebook by someone who loves writing. If that is not you, it is easy to decide journaling is not for you either.
Here is the good news: none of the research on journaling depends on writing well. What it depends on is putting some of what is in your head somewhere outside it, regularly, in whatever form you will actually keep up. This guide covers what journaling can and cannot do for your mental health, the main kinds worth trying, and how to start when you are not a writer.
What journaling can do for your mental health
Journaling has been studied for nearly forty years, and the picture is encouraging but honest.
Writing about something difficult. In a famous 1986 study, students who wrote about a difficult experience for fifteen minutes on four days went to the campus health centre less often in the months that followed than students who wrote about everyday topics. A 1998 review of studies using this "expressive writing" found improvements in people's reported physical health and psychological wellbeing. It also found that writing tended to make people feel worse immediately afterwards, even when it helped in the longer run. A larger review in 2006 found the average benefit was real but small, and varied a lot between people.
Writing about good things. In a 2018 trial, adults with medical conditions and raised anxiety spent fifteen minutes, three days a week, writing about positive experiences and what they were grateful for. Over twelve weeks they reported less distress and more wellbeing than at the start, and after a month they reported less anxiety and depression than a group receiving usual care. It was a small, early study, but a promising one.
Writing about the future you want. In another study, people who wrote about their "best possible self", the life they would have if things went as well as they could, felt better afterwards than people who wrote about neutral topics, without the short-term upset that writing about a painful event can bring.
Counting what went well. In a well-known series of studies on gratitude, people who regularly wrote down things they were grateful for felt better about their lives overall than people who wrote down hassles or neutral events.
What journaling can't do
Journaling is a tool, not a treatment. The effects in these studies are modest, and they vary a lot from person to person. Writing will not cure depression or an anxiety disorder, and for some people, especially in the middle of something painful, writing can stir things up more than it settles them. If that happens, it is fine to stop. There are sections on that further down.
Four kinds of journaling to try
You do not need all of these. Pick the one that fits what you need right now.
- Getting something difficult out. Write about something that has been weighing on you, for about fifteen minutes, on a few days in a row. Write what happened and how it felt. Spelling and order do not matter. Expect to feel a bit raw afterwards.
- Three good things. At the end of the day, write down three things that went well, however small, and a few words on why. It takes two minutes and trains your attention toward what is working.
- Your best possible self. Imagine life a few years from now if things go as well as they reasonably could, and write about it. It can help with direction, and our guide on how to find your purpose goes further.
- A one-line log. One sentence a day about how the day was. Over months it becomes something you can read back and learn from.
How to start when you're not a writer
1. One line counts
Set the bar as low as it goes. A single line, a few words, even a list. On a busy or tired day, one honest line is a full entry. You can always write more.
2. Pick one moment of the day
Attach journaling to something you already do: after your morning coffee, on the bus home, just after brushing your teeth. Journaling is a habit like any other, and habits stick when they are tied to a moment. Our guide on how to build a habit you'll actually keep explains why.
3. Write notes, not prose
Bullet points are fine. Half sentences are fine. Nobody will grade it, and nobody else has to read it.
4. Set a timer for five minutes
A short, fixed time takes away the pressure of "how much should I write?". When the timer goes, you are allowed to stop.
5. Start from a question
A blank page is hard. A question is easier. "What took up the most room in my head today?" or "What was the best ten minutes of today?" Our list of journal prompts for anxiety and overthinking has many more.
6. Speak instead of typing, if that's easier
Many phones can turn your voice into text. If talking is easier than writing, say your entry out loud and let the phone write it down. It still counts.
7. Read it back once a month
Journaling gets more useful over time, because patterns appear: what tends to lift your week, what tends to sink it. Once a month, read back what you wrote and notice what repeats.
8. Keep it somewhere safe
You will write more honestly if you trust where it goes. A notebook you keep at home, a notes app with a lock, or an app whose privacy you have checked. Our privacy checklist for mental health apps can help with that last one.
If you miss days
You will, and it does not matter. A journal is not a streak to protect. Pick it up again with one line, without making up for the days you missed. Our guide on what to do when you miss a day explains why missed days matter less than they feel.
When to stop and talk to someone
If writing keeps leaving you feeling worse rather than lighter, if it pulls you back into the same painful place every time, or if what you are writing about feels too big to hold alone, stop for now and talk to someone you trust or your doctor. Journaling is good company, but it is not a substitute for a person. If you are in danger, our help page lists services that answer day and night.
Doing it with Chirpi
Chirpi's journal is made for people who are not sure what to write. It opens each day with one question written from what Chirpi knows of you, and if it is not the right one, you can ask for another. When there is no time for a page, one quick thought is enough. After an entry, Chirpi often writes one short line back under it, saying back the heart of what you wrote, with no advice and no question.
If you would rather speak than type, you can dictate: your phone turns what you say into text by itself, and your voice never leaves your phone. Your entries are encrypted on the way and at rest, and nothing in the journal earns points. It is only for you.
Chirpi is coming to iPhone and Android. The first seven days are free, with no card.
Is journaling good for mental health?
It can help. Research on writing about difficult experiences, good experiences and the future you want has found real benefits for wellbeing, though they are usually modest and vary from person to person. It is a helpful tool, not a treatment for a mental health condition.
How do I start journaling if I'm not a writer?
Make it as small as possible: one line a day, at the same moment each day, in notes rather than proper sentences. Start from a simple question, set a five-minute timer, and remember that nobody else has to read it.
How often should I journal?
Whatever you can keep up. A few minutes most days works well for many people, and some of the research used only fifteen minutes on a few days. Regular and short beats long and rare.
What kind of journaling is best?
It depends on what you need. Writing about something difficult can help you process it but may feel heavy at first. Writing down good things and what you are grateful for tends to feel lighter. Writing about your best possible future can help with direction.
Can journaling replace therapy?
No. Journaling can support your wellbeing and help you notice patterns, but it is not a substitute for professional help. If you are struggling, it works best alongside talking to someone, not instead of it.
General wellbeing information, not medical advice. If you're struggling, here's where to find help.
Brice founded Chirpi after going through low times himself and watching his family go through them too. He learned that people mostly want to be heard, and to have somewhere to go. Chirpi is built on both.
Sources
- Pennebaker, J. W. & Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(3), 274-281.
- Smyth, J. M. (1998). Written emotional expression: Effect sizes, outcome types, and moderating variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(1), 174-184.
- Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823-865.
- Smyth, J. M., Johnson, J. A., Auer, B. J., et al. (2018). Online positive affect journaling in the improvement of mental distress and well-being in general medical patients with elevated anxiety symptoms: A preliminary randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mental Health, 5(4), e11290.
- King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(7), 798-807.
- 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.
