Journaling

I'm curious. Do you journal? Does it help you? How does it help?

I journal everyday. I helps me to keep things in perspective and to track my moods. I have noticed that my handwriting even changes when I get extremely manic.

I journal whenever I need. It's not always daily. It helps me collect my thoughts and disregard my ramblings.

I love it and value my journal as my best friend.

I think it's a very efficiant and safe way to release what's going on inside. I blog (which is sporodic at the moment, depending on my mood!) and ever since I have got to admit I have been able to keep track of my mood/cycles more effectively then I ever was able to when I didn't write.

I journal when I am depressed.

I really don't know why I only do this when I'm depressed.

Then I burn the pages in the barbeque.

For real this is what I do.

(I wouldn't want to read my depressive speech when stable it would just make me depressed all over again)

I used to fall off the journaling wagon when I got depressed. I wouldn't feel the desire for self-care and that's what writing is for me - self-care.

Yeah self care is damn hard when we're depressed.

My journalling when I was depressed was more like "venting" or frustration. Kind of like that. Then burn burn burn.

I promise myself every time to keep my blog posts consistant, but in real life I only ever post when Im ever manic or depressed (usually the latter). In other words, I only ever post when i have something to say/ winge about.

I forget my life can be quite mundane sometimes.

BabyG - sometimes when I look back at some posts I've made on PC when I've been in a mood state I'm like Yikes! Did I write THAT!

Oh I know that feeling oh too well, I've vowed to myself I WILL NEVER EDIT PREVIOUS POSTS NO MATTER HOW EMBARRASSING THEY ARE.

In fact, the only real reason why I started writing in the first place was not 'as a therapy assignment to help track my moods' (I tell people that) but because I was manic and high on caffine at the time and I thought it was a GREAT IDEA to start a blog!

I write narratives about my thoughts and about my emotions but don't journal in particular. I find it a unique form of expression and it is a needed release of my typically guarded affections.

Hahaha

I totally get it

I journal more when I'm not doing well either manic or depressed. My manic entries don't really make sense and they're really long. My depressed entries just pile up and make my life look awful when i go back and look at my journal. I have to remember that I don't often write when I'm well.

I just started a journal on my computer because typing is easier than writing but I'm not sure I like it because I like the feeling and look of handwriting.

Risu; I can relate to what you say when you say: "My manic entries don't really make sense and they're really long."

I honestly don't even think anything I say at all when I'm manic makes much sense at all.

I think anyone trying to comprehend most of what I say when I'm manic would be like ...

I've blogged for 9 1/2 years but am taking down all but a few posts as soon as I'm well enough to deal with it. I will keep posting on loxapine because there is nothing out there. But the rest of my posts will be private now. I've said everything on the blog there is to say. Nearly 10 years of cycling, there just isn't a lot to say again.

When I'm IP I journal with a vengeance. I write down everything. Last time I filled 2 notebooks. I know they flip through during room checks wondering what I write. I write everything because when I'm there I have no idea what is important to know and it fills the time. It helps me tell my therapist what has been going on. And it helps me manage living with other people in close quarters. And just dealing period.

My handwriting changes when my mood changes too. So does my writing style and words I use.

I journal daily to try track my moods which fluctuate a lot. My therapist and I are trying to figure out if I have specific cycle. We are just now getting close to a year in tracking. He hopes it will help with my treatment.

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Sigh.

I really should get my gratitude journal back out again.

I used to write in it all the time.

I should go read it.

Haven't read it for ages.

I had a gratitude journal for a few weeks then quit for some reason. I still use my regular one though. It was nice to see all the good things each night I did it.

Yes on the handwriting! Mine too. Different in various states. I tend to journal when depressed, but also when things are "jumbly" like thoughts are crashing around and I can't get ahold of them. Sometimes writing helps to clarify, or even make what should be obvious obvious(!), whether it's some sort of decision or making clear what state I'm in when I'm too confused to "see" it.

That kind just the other day in fact. Woke up early and was a mess. Some of what was up there I suspected might be a bit paranoid (but thoughts would randomly flash, followed by blanks -- no idea what the thought 3 seconds earlier was -- so couldn't assess.) Started writing. It's full of circular thoughts in jumbly writing, about why I was writing it down, but how I couldn't write it(!) Made it one paragraph in. Disorganized, but you could read it. Mid-sentence it switches. To what?

Nearly 9 full pages written in my code. Paranoid? Apparently so!

It was good to get it out, but also draining. After writing, couldn't stay awake. The big download must've overloaded the circuits, lol!

So yeah, I journal mostly just to get it out.

From age 13 to about 20 I journaled constantly. I filled notebook after notebook with writing. I also wrote stories. I stopped a few months after I met my husband. I was stable and it just didn't feel necessary anymore. I wrote here and there when I was feeling upset but I didn't write a lot. Then when I started getting bad again I started writing again. I write a lot here. I also write on paper. Now I feel like I have to write or I'll explode. I'm going to purchase a nice journal so I can write to my husband. It makes me feel more connected to him, plus lets me yell at him a bit. I have some anger surrounding his death. Writing will be very important to me right now. It saved me in the past and it will save me now.

Yeah that's what I want to do, some self reflection.

Journal away! I hope it helps to release your emotions and all of your torment.

Gratitude journals are a great help. I could never keep one up for long especially if I'm depressed but they really do help you notice more positive things in your life throughout the day. It makes you think "oh I could put this in my gratitude joyrnal, this is a good thing".

I'm not good at remembering to journal. As an autist, it doesn't necessarily come naturally to me to express me thoughts "out loud" or on paper. I do write a lot of stream-of-consciousness stuff when manic. This helps keep me from bombarding other humans with my stream of ideas I also blog, but only when I'm coherent; I have it set up so that my best friend has to review my posts before I post them! I often think I should journal, and I'll keep at it for maybe a month, and then start forgetting.

I wonder if there's an app that can remind you to journal everyday. I guess a simple alarm or reminder would work.