I entirely agree.

I have practiced journalling most of my adult life. I admit it is very cathartic. But I look back at the most depressing times of my life and realise I was spending a great deal of time writing endlessly about negativity. I truly believe this is what made my last bout of depression so unbearable I was hospitalized. I was 'ordered' to stop journalling.

So what do I do instead? I still write.

I have taken up creative writing. Poetry mostly. It forces me to thinkout what I am writing about and, even if it is not such happy subject matter, it is short and succint. No more endless pages of harping on a single event or idea.

I have taken up letter writing. It is enjoyable, and beneficial. I tend to be more cheery too. I write a lengthy letter every day. It is so much better away to keep in contact with my friends than Facebook or email.

In the meantime I have tossed the hundred plus journals I had kept. I just couldn't bear it. Any page I opened up to was so depressing and negative.