angry try journalling

If you’re someone who regularly finds yourself venting steam from your ears, then it’s likely that your emotions are often on the brink of spilling over too. Biting your tongue is certainly the best way to avoid an uncomfortable situation, however, it’s not always the best thing for our mental health. So, how do we get our feelings out, without hurting someone else’s?

How do we unload our worries and anxieties without bringing someone else down?

Whether you have a build up of anger, frustration or anxiety, then journalling may well be something that can help you to gain more self-control and improve your mental well being as a result.

A quick way to test the power of journalling

If you are sceptical, then here is a quick way of demonstrating just how effective writing our feelings down can be…

The next time you feel cross with someone, take a deep breath, pick up a pen and offload all of your thoughts on to a piece of paper. Most importantly, don’t hold back! You can write what you like, curse as much as you like and write the most unthinkable things, even if you don’t really mean them! Remember, the ONLY person who is going to see this, is you. And for extra effectiveness, you could even address it to the actual person as though it were a letter… though of course you won’t be actually sending it!

Once you have got it all out there, read it back… and in this case, for obvious reasons, you will then need to destroy the evidence or discard in such a way that it won’t be seen by someone else!

If it’s anxiety you’re feeling, then write down all of the things that you are worried about. Again, don’t hold back. However ridiculous your worries may sound when you say them out loud, just write them down in absolute honesty. They are your worries. Just because someone else might find them silly, this doesn’t make them any less important to you!

journalling for mental health

Okay… So, don’t you feel better now?

It’s quite surprising just how effective this method is. Writing in this way is a real therapy and can help avoid conflict, improve your mood and whilst it won’t cure depression, it can certainly help to manage the symptoms. And you can also learn a lot about yourself in the process!

So, if one of your resolutions this year is to be a more calm, more tolerant and happier person, then why not start a journal? This isn’t a book where you need to write down everything you have done during the day, but rather a place to ‘brain dump’… A place to unload your innermost thoughts and feelings and just get them out! And if you’re worried that you don’t have a good enough hiding place, you can always write your journal on a computer instead… with a password of course!

What if you don’t like writing?

If you find it difficult or scary to write things down, then maybe you could illustrate them instead. Or better still do both!

Kickstart your journalling with Art Journal January

We are hosting a challenge called ‘Art Journal January’, so if you join in, it will be the perfect way to get started. And you won’t be alone! There will be plenty of other people joining in! So, if you want to get involved, then you can find out what you need to do by going to the Art Journal January page.

Art Journal January Creative Challenge

And if you find it helps you, then we would love to hear about it!

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