6 Ways to Process your Feelings in Writing: How to Journal for Anxiety and Depression

Summary

In this insightful episode, the speaker introduces six effective journaling techniques to aid in managing depression and anxiety. These methods include traditional journaling to track emotions, brain dumping for clarity, creating diagrams to organize thoughts, writing unsent letters for closure, identifying loci of control to manage stress, and envisioning alternate positive scenarios to shift focus from problems to solutions. The episode emphasizes the power of writing as a tool for self-therapy and personal growth, highlighting its benefits for mental and physical health.

Takeaways

• 📔 Journaling can be a powerful tool for managing depression and anxiety by making the implicit explicit, which is a common process in various types of therapy.
• 🌳 The concept of 'make the implicit explicit' involves taking internal, vague thoughts and emotions and expressing them in a clear, solid, and external form.
• 🚀 Personal growth is about making small, sustainable changes over time, leading to significant improvement in mental health.
• 📈 Journaling helps track moods, identify triggers, decrease anxiety and stress, and can even improve physical health by lowering blood pressure and improving liver function.
• ✍️ Writing about feelings can reduce activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for emotional intensity, with men seeming to benefit more than women.
• 🧠 Brain dump is a technique to offload overwhelming thoughts by writing them down without concern for spelling or grammar, which can provide immediate relief or clarity.
• 📊 Creating diagrams or charts can help organize complex problems and provide clarity, a technique often used in therapy sessions.
• 💌 Writing a letter you won't send allows for personal closure and expression of needs and wants without expecting any change from others.
• 🔄 Clarifying your locus of control by listing what's in your control, out of your control, and what you can influence helps reduce stress and anxiety.
• 🔍 Writing an alternate version of a situation shifts focus from problems to solutions and encourages attention on what is valuable and controllable in one's life.
• 🌟 Incorporating daily habits that make a 1% difference can lead to massive growth by the end of the year, emphasizing the importance of small, consistent changes.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of journaling for mental health?

The main purpose of journaling for mental health is to process emotions, gain clarity on challenges, and improve overall mental well-being by making the implicit explicit through writing.

What does the phrase 'make the implicit explicit' mean in the context of therapy?

In the context of therapy, 'make the implicit explicit' means taking something that is unclear, vague, or internalized and expressing it in a clear, solid, and external manner that can be better understood and addressed.

How can journaling help with depression and anxiety?

Journaling helps with depression and anxiety by allowing individuals to track their moods, identify triggering situations, decrease anxiety and stress, and gain a clearer perspective on their challenges, leading to improved mood and reduced depressive symptoms.

What is the significance of the acorn metaphor mentioned in the script?

The acorn metaphor signifies that there is massive potential inside each person, but growth takes time and doesn't happen overnight. It emphasizes the importance of making small, sustainable changes over time to achieve significant personal growth.

What is the 'Oak in the Acorn' journal mentioned in the video?

The 'Oak in the Acorn' journal is a small daily checking journal designed to help individuals build tiny habits that make a significant difference in improving mental health. It includes prompts for finding positivity, expressing gratitude, and checking in with emotions, as well as reference guides for emotions and values.

How does writing by hand compare to typing in terms of benefits for journaling?

Writing by hand has been shown to have a bigger effect on reducing activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for controlling the intensity of emotions, compared to typing. This suggests that the physical act of writing may provide additional benefits for emotional processing.

What is the 'brain dump' technique and how can it help with overwhelming emotions?

The 'brain dump' technique involves writing down everything in your brain without concern for spelling, grammar, or narrative structure. It helps to clear the mind, reduce stress, and provide a sense of relief or clarity when feeling overwhelmed by intense emotions.

How can creating a diagram or chart assist in processing complex problems?

Creating a diagram or chart helps to visually organize and prioritize complex problems, making it easier to focus on one issue at a time and find clarity on how to address the challenges at hand.

What is the purpose of writing a letter you never intend to send?

Writing a letter you never intend to send allows you to express your feelings, needs, and desires without expecting any response or change from the recipient. It can provide personal closure and healing, especially in situations where direct communication is not possible or desired.

What are the three columns in the 'locus of control' exercise and how do they help reduce stress and anxiety?

The three columns in the 'locus of control' exercise are: 'in your control,' 'out of your control,' and 'you can influence but can't control.' By categorizing aspects of your life into these columns, you can focus on what actions to take, what to let go of, and how to manage your stress and anxiety more effectively.

How does writing an alternate version of a situation help with processing emotions?

Writing an alternate version of a situation encourages you to focus on solutions and positive outcomes rather than dwelling on problems. It helps you visualize and emotionally engage with the life you desire, bringing attention to the things within your control and fostering a sense of empowerment and positivity.

Outlines

00:00

📔 Journaling for Mental Health

This paragraph introduces the concept of journaling as a therapeutic tool for managing depression and anxiety. It emphasizes the importance of making the implicit explicit, which involves clarifying and externalizing one's thoughts and emotions. The speaker shares their personal experience with an acorn as a symbol of potential growth and discusses the idea that significant change often comes from small, repeated efforts. They introduce a journal called 'the oak in the acorn' designed to help build daily habits for improving mental health through reflection and gratitude.

05:01

🌧️ Coping with Pain and Distress through Journaling

The speaker discusses the benefits of journaling for individuals experiencing pain, distress, or feeling overwhelmed. They explain how journaling can help track moods, identify triggers, and provide a clearer perspective on challenges. The paragraph highlights the physical health benefits of journaling, such as lowering blood pressure and improving liver function. It also mentions the psychological benefits, including improved self-understanding and relationships, and the reduction of activity in the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional intensity.

🧠 The Brain Dump Technique

This section introduces the brain dump technique as a method for dealing with intense emotions or feelings of being overwhelmed. The speaker explains that the goal is to transfer thoughts from the mind to paper without concern for grammar or spelling, resulting in a sense of relief or clarity. The paragraph also touches on the use of diagrams and charts in therapy sessions to organize complex problems and maintain focus, encouraging viewers to try this skill for themselves.

💌 Writing the Unsent Letter

The speaker describes the therapeutic value of writing a letter that will never be sent, particularly for those who have unexpressed feelings or need closure on a situation. This activity is beneficial for expressing needs, wants, and wishes without expecting a response. The process of writing and then disposing of or keeping the letter can lead to personal healing and closure.

🎯 Clarifying Locus of Control

This paragraph explains the concept of locus of control, where individuals identify what is within their control, what is outside of it, and what they can influence. The speaker suggests creating a chart with three columns to categorize these aspects, which can help reduce stress and anxiety and provide clarity on actions to take or things to let go.

🌟 Writing an Alternate Version of Situations

The speaker encourages writing an alternate version of challenging situations to focus on solutions and desired outcomes. This activity shifts attention from problems to potential solutions, allowing individuals to explore how they would like things to be and detail the feelings and actions they value. The process helps in bringing to mind positive aspects and desired changes, promoting personal growth and healing.

Keywords

💡Journaling

Journaling is the practice of regularly writing down thoughts, feelings, and experiences. In the context of the video, it is presented as a powerful tool for processing emotions and improving mental health. It helps individuals track moods, identify triggers, and gain clarity on challenges. The act of writing, especially by hand, has been shown to have physical health benefits as well, such as lowering blood pressure and improving liver function.

💡Emotions

Emotions are complex psychological states that involve a mix of feelings, physiological changes, and behavioral responses. In the video, emotions are central to the discussion, with the speaker focusing on how to process them through various writing techniques. The goal is to help viewers understand and manage their emotions, particularly those associated with depression and anxiety.

💡Depression

Depression is a mental health disorder characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a lack of interest or pleasure in activities. In the video, depression is identified as one of the conditions that the viewer may be dealing with, and the speaker offers journaling as a method to alleviate symptoms and improve mental well-being.

💡Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. The video discusses anxiety as a common emotional challenge and suggests various writing techniques to help manage and reduce anxiety levels, promoting mental health and well-being.

💡Implicit and Explicit

The terms 'implicit' and 'explicit' refer to things that are either understood or not directly stated (implicit) versus things that are clearly stated or obvious (explicit). In the video, the phrase 'make the implicit explicit' is used to describe the process of bringing unclear or unspoken thoughts and feelings into clear consciousness and expression, which is a key aspect of therapeutic writing.

💡Mental Health

Mental health refers to an individual's psychological, emotional, and social well-being. The video emphasizes the importance of maintaining good mental health and provides various writing techniques as strategies to improve it, particularly for those dealing with depression and anxiety.

💡Growth

Growth in the context of the video refers to personal development and improvement, especially in terms of mental health and emotional well-being. The speaker contrasts the idea of sudden, drastic changes with the concept of sustainable growth through small, consistent improvements over time.

💡Therapy

Therapy is a professional treatment method that helps individuals cope with various issues, including mental health disorders. In the video, therapy is mentioned as a common method for making the implicit explicit, with writing presented as a way to perform self-therapy when professional help is not available.

💡Brain Dump

A 'brain dump' is the act of quickly writing down all the thoughts and ideas in one's mind without concern for structure or coherence. It is a technique used to declutter the mind and gain clarity, particularly when feeling overwhelmed by intense emotions.

💡Locus of Control

Locus of control refers to the perceived control an individual has over the events affecting their life. It can be internal, where a person believes they have control over their actions and outcomes, or external, where they feel events are determined by external forces. In the video, the concept is used to help viewers differentiate between what they can control, what they can influence, and what is beyond their control, thereby reducing stress and anxiety.

💡Alternate Version

An 'alternate version' refers to a different outcome or scenario that contrasts with the current situation. In the context of the video, it involves writing a different, more positive outcome for a situation as a way to focus on solutions and desired states, rather than dwelling on problems.

Highlights

The episode introduces a method for processing emotions through journaling, particularly useful for those dealing with depression and anxiety.

The concept of 'making the implicit explicit' is explained as a therapeutic process to clarify and solidify vague thoughts and emotions.

Journaling is presented as a tool for mental health improvement, with six ways to enhance it through writing.

The importance of small, sustainable changes over time is emphasized, likening personal growth to the slow growth of an acorn into an oak tree.

The speaker shares their personal experience of carrying an acorn in Argentina as a symbol of potential and growth.

The 'Oak in the Acorn' journal is introduced as a daily checking tool to help build positive habits for mental health.

Journaling helps track moods, identify triggers, decrease anxiety, and stress, and provides a clearer perspective on challenges.

Physical health benefits of journaling include lower blood pressure, improved immune system, and better liver function.

Writing down feelings reduces activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for emotional intensity.

Journaling can aid in processing trauma and has been shown to improve physical health in conditions like asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.

The 'brain dump' technique is described as a way to offload overwhelming thoughts onto paper for immediate relief and clarity.

Diagramming or charting problems can help bring clarity and focus when dealing with complex issues.

Writing a letter you won't send can provide personal closure and a means of expressing unspoken needs and feelings.

Clarifying one's locus of control through a chart can reduce stress and anxiety and help identify actionable items.

Writing an alternate version of a situation shifts focus from problems to solutions and encourages attention on controllable aspects of life.

The episode concludes with a summary of the six writing techniques as tools for processing thoughts and emotions.

Transcripts

in this episode i'm going to teach you another way  to process emotions it's something you can do on  

your own and it's a powerful way to work through  the jumble of thoughts and emotions that are  

all up in your head so today you're going  to learn how to journal for depression and  

anxiety now therapists have this phrase make the  implicit explicit and it's basically a terrible  

phrase because it sounds like you're going to be  doing something wrong but all these academics all  

they're trying to say is to take something that's  inside your head something that's you know cloudy  

and vague and you know implied and to make it  clear and solid and like external something you  

can like physically touch almost and when you  look at all the hundreds of types of therapy  

one thing that is common among them is this  process of making the implicit explicit taking  

the vague and making it solid and this is a  really effective way to solve problems to to  

resolve these internal conflicts and to soothe  painful emotions like depression or anxiety  

and the common way that you do this is by  talking about it right by trying to explain  

it or describe it out loud to your therapist  but there's a ton of other ways to do it too  

and if you learn these skills it's kind of like  learning some ways to do a little bit of self  

therapy so today i'm going to teach you six ways  you can improve your mental health through writing

when i was serving in argentina i carried an  acorn in my bag to remind me that inside of an  

acorn is a giant oak tree waiting to grow there  is massive potential inside but you can't take an  

acorn and turn it into an oak overnight now people  often think that if you want to improve your life  

you need to make these huge changes or have an  epiphany but that is just not how growth really  

works and it's not sustainable sustainable growth  looks like one small change at a time that you  

repeat until it becomes part of you just like how  you can't force an acorn to turn into an oak tree  

you can't force your thoughts and your emotions  to change all at once so just start building these  

daily habits that make a one percent difference  if you can only change one percent of each day  

by the end of the year you'll have created  massive growth so i made this small little  

journal it's called the oak in the acorn and  it's just a little daily checking journal  

to help you build up those tiny little habits that  make a huge difference at improving mental health  

it probably takes two to four minutes a  day and it just helps you look for the good  

and express gratitude and check in with with  your feelings and it's also got some handy little  

reference guides with lists of emotions and values  and like just simple things you can do each day  

to improve your health so if you'd like to buy the  digital download and print this little guy at home  

check out the merch shelf below okay back  to the video where you're going to learn  

six ways to journal for mental health okay so  when you have a lot of pain or distress when  

you're anxious or upset or overwhelmed it's easy  to feel like a situation is hopeless or to feel  

conflicted about what action to take so i've  seen this with my client right like should i  

be selfless with my teenager and serve and love  them or should i set boundaries and demand that  

they treat me with respect right like things can  feel really confusing or sometimes a problem is  

so overwhelming that we can't even figure out  what's wrong going to a therapist can help you  

sort through all these confusing thoughts and  feelings and of course i recommend that but  

most people only see a therapist one hour a week  and some people can't get to a therapist so here  

are six easy ways to sort through your issues  on your own okay so let's start with the first  

journaling journaling is really simple you just  write about what you're feeling or thinking  

or experiencing journaling can help you track  your moods and identify triggering situations  

it can also help decrease anxiety and stress and  it can help you gain a clearer perspective on your  

challenges journaling has been shown to help your  physical health too it can lower blood pressure it  

can help your immune system and it can improve  liver function writing can help you get to know  

yourself better and improve your relationships  and journaling has been shown to improve mood and  

fight depression matthew lieberman a psychologist  at ucla said brain scans on volunteers showed that  

putting feelings down on paper reduces activity  in a part of the brain called the amygdala  

which is responsible for controlling the intensity  of our emotions men seemed to benefit from  

writing about their feelings more than women and  writing by hand had a bigger effect than typing  

journaling has been shown to help people  process trauma in a study with college students  

prompting these students to write about stressful  or traumatic events helped them reduce stress  

improve their mood and even have better physical  health other studies have shown that writing about  

your stress helps people with asthma improve lung  functioning and people with rheumatoid arthritis  

decrease their symptoms of arthritis so the simple  act of taking 10 minutes every day to write about  

how you're feeling can be really helpful to  your mental and physical health okay the second  

technique is the brain dump i made a short video  that goes into more detail but the basic idea  

behind the brain dump is that when you're feeling  really intense emotions or when you're overwhelmed  

or upset it can be helpful to just take everything  in your brain and put it down on paper for me when  

i brain dump i actually use a computer because i  can type faster than i can write and the goal is  

not to make some beautiful cohesive narrative  but to just dump your thoughts down into words  

don't worry about spelling or grammar just get  your ideas out of your head and onto paper now  

you'll probably notice that if you do this you'll  feel an immediate sense of relief or at the very  

least some clarity okay the third way to process  emotions through writing is to make a diagram i  

do this in almost every therapy session my clients  come in with complicated and complex problems and  

i can't even keep track of all the issues that  come up in one session it's hard to know what  

to work on first so in almost every session i'm  using the whiteboard or a piece of paper to keep  

track of ideas sometimes we make lists together  sometimes we write down all the separate problems  

and just use that to keep our focus on you know  just one of them at a time i'll use charts to help  

a client clarify what's going on and honestly i  could not function as a therapist without drawing  

writing or listing things out in a session so this  is a skill that i encourage everyone to try right  

make a diagram or a chart exploring your problem  and see if that helps bring you some clarity okay  

the next activity is writing a letter you won't  send so i use this activity quite frequently with  

teenagers and with trauma survivors so sometimes  you have these things you want to say but you'll  

never get a chance to say them maybe your  parents just aren't able to hear what you need  

or your abuser will never be in a place to  take accountability for what they've done  

maybe the person you need to reconcile with  is dead or you have no way to reach them  

or maybe you just have things to say but  you're not ready for anyone to know them yet  

so in this situation writing a letter that you  never send can be a way for you to personally  

get some closure on a situation it helps you  express your needs and your wants and your wishes  

without expecting any kind of change on their part  so write the letter tell them what you need to say  

and then afterwards you can burn it or flush it  down the toilet or save it or if you choose you  

can mail it whatever you want but it's the process  of expression that leads to healing or you know to  

use that terrible therapist term make the implicit  explicit write it down in a letter you're never  

gonna send okay next option the next way you  can process anxiety and depression and other  

strong emotions through writing is to clarify your  locus of control this is really simple but really  

powerful just make a chart with three columns  in one column write about what's in your control  

in the other write about what's out of your  control and in the middle write about the things  

you can influence but you can't control now again  i made a longer video about this but it's a pretty  

straightforward concept with some really powerful  outcomes it can help you decrease your stress and  

anxiety and it can help you find clarity about  what action to take and what to let go of okay  

the next way to process intense emotions is  to write an alternate version of a situation  

what we focus on we get more of so instead of  constantly focusing on problems this writing  

activity encourages you to bring your attention  to solutions to the things you want more of  

in your life so write about how you would like  things to be going write in detail about how you  

would like to be feeling and how you would like to  be handling a situation write about how it would  

be different if you were living the life that you  valued spend time writing an alternate version of  

how you would be acting or feeling and focus on  the things that are in your control instead of  

dwelling on what you wish would change that's  outside of your control so for example let's  

say you're in an unhappy relationship when you  write out this idea you could choose a couple of  

alternate endings one may look like writing about  yourself expressing gratitude or writing about  

yourself feeling forgiveness or writing about  yourself falling back in love with your spouse  

and writing about seeing the positive in your  spouse you may write about those feelings of  

warmth and humor that you used to have in the  relationship so it's basically just bringing  

to mind the things that you value and that you  love about yourself and your spouse or you could  

write about what it would look like if you got the  courage to leave an abusive relationship what it  

would look like if you had healthy boundaries  what you would say and what you would do  

what what you would do if you believed in yourself  and if you believed in your right to be loved and  

to be safe write about the actions you would  take to get your life back and live your dream  

okay so there you have it six ways to help  you process through your thoughts and emotions  

with just a pencil and paper i hope you found  this helpful thank you for watching and take care

you