What are some of the short- and long-term health benefits of journaling?

1. Journaling reduces stress. An overabundance of stress can be damaging to your physical, mental, and emotional health. One study showed that expressive writing (like journaling) for only 15 to 20 minutes a day three to five times a week over the course of a four-month period was enough to lower blood pressure and improve liver functionality. In addition, writing about stressful experiences can help you manage them in a healthy way. Journaling can be a pre-bedtime meditation habit to help you unwind and destress.

2. Expressive writing can strengthen your immunity and decrease your risk of illness. Those who journal show improved immune system functioning (it strengthens immune cells!) as well as decreased symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Expressive writing has been shown to improve liver and lung function and combat certain diseases; it has even been reported to help the wounded heal faster. https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/topics/live-well/2018/07/5-powerful-health-benefits-of-journaling/

3. Journaling helps keep your brain in functioning shape. It boosts memory and comprehension in a healthy way. It also increases working memory capacity, which may reflect improved cognitive processing.

4. A unique social and behavioral outcome of journaling is this: It can improve your mood and give you a greater sense of overall emotional well-being and happiness. Journal for your brain’s sake and your body’s sake.

5. Journaling strengthens emotional functions. As journaling habits are developed, benefits become long-term, meaning that diarists become more in tune with their health by connecting with inner needs and desires. Journaling evokes mindfulness and helps writers remain present while keeping perspective. It presents an opportunity for emotional catharsis and helps the brain regulate emotions. It provides a greater sense of confidence and self-identity<1>

<1> H. Norman Wright, How to Keep Your Brain Healthy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2021), pp. 82-83.