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In the midst of horror this young girl, forced into hiding from the Nazis, managed to find comfort in her diary and considered it a friend during her tragically short but remarkable life. If a diary could soothe someone in such a bleak situation, imagine how it could help others cope with daily stress.
Keeping a journal, or journaling, is simply recording one’s feelings and observations, and offers many wellness benefits. A University of Texas, Austin, study showed that regular journaling strengthened immunity. Research from the Stony Brook University found that its effect on stress reduction may decrease symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Journaling provides emotional benefits as well. Some cancer patients find solace in writing, and online journals provide hope and support for fellow patients. Seattle-based journalist, breast cancer survivor and activist Jeanne Sather, who posts her diary online at the Assertive Cancer Patient (www.assertivepatient.com), writes that composing and posting her diary, which she had begun as a way to make money, became “so much more…it was therapy.” The attached online bulletin board became a “lively support group” for others affected by cancer.
Psychologists studying the advantages of journaling maintain that it is most beneficial when done without reserve. The first researcher to examine the link between expressive writing and physical health, James W. Pennebaker, Ph.D., instructed his subjects on journaling about a negative experience, encouraging them to write out their deepest thoughts about it, without abandon, as a way of processing through the associated pain. According to research by Kitty Klein, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., writing about negative experiences can improve attention and concentration, which construct our “working memory.”
“These improvements in the ability to concentrate translate into real-world outcomes, like better college grades,” writes Klein.
This means journaling can promote better performance in school-age children too. Klein goes on to say that “People with higher working memory capacity also do better on standardized college admission tests, intelligence tests and reading comprehension tests.”
And, with school back in session, the fall is an exciting but emotional time for children and teens. Educators have long promoted journaling, even for children in pre-K (a crayon-drawn picture is worth a thousand words). In Teaching the Integrated Language Arts (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997), Shane Templeton, Ph.D, foundation professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Nevada, Reno, encourages children to keep a writer’s notebook in order to be “better able to reflect on their world and make sense of it.”
A very young child can draw a picture of how he feels, and dictate the captions to you. This is especially helpful if he is angry or sad, though he can also draw pictures of happy events. Date the pictures and bind them to create a beautiful book that encourages communication, literacy, creativity and expression.
Journal writing is something that almost everyone can do, and can offer comfort and peace, becoming a rewarding lifelong habit for all ages.
Galia Ozari, a former early childhood educator, is currently executive editor of www.demodirt.com, a Web site specializing in demographic news and trends.
Journaling Tips & Ideas:
- Get a simple, inexpensive notebook or journal, roomy enough for writing andsaving mementos, like cards, photos, ticket stubs or pressed flowers.
- Carry the journal with you to jot down fresh ideas and thoughts.
- Write 10 minutes daily, gradually working up to a half hour or more.
- Write instinctively and honestly.
- A favorite pen makes journaling special.
- Consider a special-purpose journal like a pregnancy, honeymoon, or weight-loss journal.
Ina Rae Kurtzberg, LCSW-R, Sunday, October 21, 2007 at 02:13 AMThis article clearly states something that I have known, intuitively, helped me since I was a teenager and something that I strongly suggest that my patients do as a part of their healing process --- and that is to journal. Writing freely the page becomes another "ear" to hear one and allow them to hear themselves. And, often with enough complaining, blaming, etc. there is a switch into Higher Knowing as one continues to journal on a regular basis. It is a perfect companion, and for me, personally, a life-saver since it enabled me to see what I wouldn't/couldn't see any other way.
