[Winterbritt]

I am new to this forum. I have been slow to comment on other threads because I don't really have a good feel for who everyone is and what their story is. So I thought I would just start a new thread.

I have been bullet journaling since March. I started a simple gratitude list to try to deal with my depression, and it kind of evolved from there. Now I have a whole form that I fill out everyday. It is really really working. I even started a blog to kind of document the process of rewiring my brain for happiness.

I am wondering if anyone else bullet journals and if you do it with the intent of relieving your symptoms. I'm specifically thinking about tracking my moods. I've tried a few things tentatively because my bullet journal is exclusively about good stuff. (I'm already really good at focusing on bad stuff. ) I'm concerned that by documenting those rough moods I'll be giving them more importance in my mind. They might seem like more of a big deal and I might remember them more. Thoughts?

I attached a photo of my day today. I track gratitude, beauty, humor, my schedule, my food, my spending, and anything that needs done today. I also write down a happy memory from my childhood, decide on something to pray about while I'm falling asleep and write down an affirmation, something I like about myself today and something I'm excited about.

[noellekbari]

I have been keeping a journal for years! I have been suffering since I was a kid! I am 48 now and had to get a new Dr. because the one I was using wasn't in my network. She suggested genetic testing! They can test to see what medicine works best on you! I just stared it.. Deplin..apparently I have a genetic mutation that prevents my body from absorbing or converting folate to its usable form? Wish I knew this before I had around 30 ECT's! Get the test done! My insurance covered it!

[Sunflower123]

Originally Posted by Winterbritt

I am new to this forum. I have been slow to comment on other threads because I don't really have a good feel for who everyone is and what their story is. So I thought I would just start a new thread.

I have been bullet journaling since March. I started a simple gratitude list to try to deal with my depression, and it kind of evolved from there. Now I have a whole form that I fill out everyday. It is really really working. I even started a blog to kind of document the process of rewiring my brain for happiness.

I am wondering if anyone else bullet journals and if you do it with the intent of relieving your symptoms. I'm specifically thinking about tracking my moods. I've tried a few things tentatively because my bullet journal is exclusively about good stuff. (I'm already really good at focusing on bad stuff. ) I'm concerned that by documenting those rough moods I'll be giving them more importance in my mind. They might seem like more of a big deal and I might remember them more. Thoughts?

I attached a photo of my day today. I track gratitude, beauty, humor, my schedule, my food, my spending, and anything that needs done today. I also write down a happy memory from my childhood, decide on something to pray about while I'm falling asleep and write down an affirmation, something I like about myself today and something I'm excited about.

Wow. Thanks for sharing your journal. It's very impressive. I've heard about bullet journaling but don't know much about it. I will be looking into this further. Thanks for sharing.

sadly, I've really let my journal go

back in 2010 and 2011, I filled it in almost every day (sometimes even more than once)

but then it got boring and depressing because I was repeating myself so stopped

I started again recently with the intent to carry on from where I left off,

but I just don't get the desired affect anymore.

the only reason I keep my journal around is because it has a lot of my creative stuff in it

I've taken to just simple logging these days, I have a log file on my computer where I just, well.... log stuff that happens that I feel is important

[Winterbritt]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

sadly, I've really let my journal go

back in 2010 and 2011, I filled it in almost every day (sometimes even more than once)

but then it got boring and depressing because I was repeating myself so stopped

I started again recently with the intent to carry on from where I left off,

but I just don't get the desired affect anymore.

the only reason I keep my journal around is because it has a lot of my creative stuff in it

I've taken to just simple logging these days, I have a log file on my computer where I just, well.... log stuff that happens that I feel is important

Can I ask what kind of stuff you were tracking in your journal? I think you have to do do it with a purpose for it to help you feel better. Like maybe ask yourself what you wish your life was like and then track those things. Like I wanted life to be lucky and beautiful and funny. That's why I track those categories. My real life wasn't anyyyythinnnggg like that when I started. I do it more to train my brain what to notice rather than to track reality or document my life. I'm already plenty good at remembering bad stuff. When it gets easy I kind of try to up the ante and stretch my mind a bit more. So I'm good at noticing beauty in nature, so now I try to notice beauty in humanity, or beauty in sounds, or beauty in smells. etc.

I wrote a blog post about it if you're interested. A Good Life Discovered: Bullet Journal for Joy - Winterbritt

[Winterbritt]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

Wow. Thanks for sharing your journal. It's very impressive. I've heard about bullet journaling but don't know much about it. I will be looking into this further. Thanks for sharing.

There's tons of stuff online about bullet journaling. Just don't get scared off at how pretty and perfect looking some of the journals are on instagram, etc. How it works is wayyyy more important than how it looks. My friend bought a journal and then spent weeks not writing in it because she was afraid she was gonna mess it up.

[Winterbritt]

Originally Posted by noellekbari

I have been keeping a journal for years! I have been suffering since I was a kid! I am 48 now and had to get a new Dr. because the one I was using wasn't in my network. She suggested genetic testing! They can test to see what medicine works best on you! I just stared it.. Deplin..apparently I have a genetic mutation that prevents my body from absorbing or converting folate to its usable form? Wish I knew this before I had around 30 ECT's! Get the test done! My insurance covered it!

Wow, that's super interesting! Keep us updated on if it makes you feel better!

[AgainNAgain1212]

Hi all - I'm new here too. I have dysthymia (basically, chronic depression) with bouts of major depressive disorder. Well, here I am again... dealing with another bout. With nearly 20 years of this - I am fed up and exhausted - I know the full gambit of "coping skills" and tried pretty much everything at one point or another. Generally, I keep myself going by meeting the expectations of others (which also wears me down but keeps me functional). Then I progress into the whole "must have me time" and allowing myself to feel like crap for a bit. Anyways - long story short - making myself accountable to me is what I ultimately have to do. Why don't I start there? Like everything - it falls off the radar eventually...
This time however, I PLAN TO START A BULLET JOURNAL... I bought one from a great Etsy seller (Autumn and Olive), I got nice markers, (i.e. I spent a little money on myself). Now, comes the planning (+ procrastination + desire for "perfection"), which stems a bit from my issues... I have tasked myself to create it today!
Honestly, the self accountability is what lets a person see HOW you really have been and HOW things have really been going.
Therapy has never really helped because - I am a suppressor (it is the main way I 'deal' with the symptoms - otherwise I would never get anything accomplished) - and everything isn't so bad when I talk to someone. I logically know how to deal with things and what a therapist will say... so it is ineffective for me.
I am hoping a bullet journal will help me identify a trend for moods, activity, a "one good thing" for each day (I tried doing this by taking pictures and posting to Instagram - that fell off the radar pretty quickly as a daily activity), goals for the next day, etc. etc.

Originally Posted by Winterbritt

Can I ask what kind of stuff you were tracking in your journal? I think you have to do do it with a purpose for it to help you feel better. Like maybe ask yourself what you wish your life was like and then track those things. Like I wanted life to be lucky and beautiful and funny. That's why I track those categories. My real life wasn't anyyyythinnnggg like that when I started. I do it more to train my brain what to notice rather than to track reality or document my life. I'm already plenty good at remembering bad stuff. When it gets easy I kind of try to up the ante and stretch my mind a bit more. So I'm good at noticing beauty in nature, so now I try to notice beauty in humanity, or beauty in sounds, or beauty in smells. etc.

I wrote a blog post about it if you're interested. A Good Life Discovered: Bullet Journal for Joy - Winterbritt

it usually was (in this order)

-mood

-weather outside

-music i'm listening too

-anything that happened since I last journaled (good or bad)

-information about my binging and how I was doing with that

-information about my cutting

[byondmycntrl]

Originally Posted by Winterbritt

I am new to this forum. I have been slow to comment on other threads because I don't really have a good feel for who everyone is and what their story is. So I thought I would just start a new thread.


I have been bullet journaling since March. I started a simple gratitude list to try to deal with my depression, and it kind of evolved from there. Now I have a whole form that I fill out everyday. It is really really working. I even started a blog to kind of document the process of rewiring my brain for happiness.


I am wondering if anyone else bullet journals and if you do it with the intent of relieving your symptoms. I'm specifically thinking about tracking my moods. I've tried a few things tentatively because my bullet journal is exclusively about good stuff. (I'm already really good at focusing on bad stuff. ) I'm concerned that by documenting those rough moods I'll be giving them more importance in my mind. They might seem like more of a big deal and I might remember them more. Thoughts?


I attached a photo of my day today. I track gratitude, beauty, humor, my schedule, my food, my spending, and anything that needs done today. I also write down a happy memory from my childhood, decide on something to pray about while I'm falling asleep and write down an affirmation, something I like about myself today and something I'm excited about.

When I'm not sinking into the abyss I make journals. Mostly art journal,altered book journals and junk journals. I'm constantly writing in one. I love your bullet journal ideas. Journaling really does help me a lot of the time.

[jmariah001]

I have never tried bullet journaling. Looks really involved. It's hard for me to sit and do things for long periods of time. Although I do journal almost every day just not long entries. Mostly they are about what's going on and my mood at the time. I've been journaling on and off since I was a little girl. I am now 37. I still have my first journal. I read it from time to time. I had a rough childhood by the way some of my earlier entries sound. I now keep an online journal. It's easier for me than writing. My writing has always been bad. But at least I still keep one. It really does help.

[Winterbritt]

Originally Posted by AgainNAgain1212

Hi all - I'm new here too. I have dysthymia (basically, chronic depression) with bouts of major depressive disorder. Well, here I am again... dealing with another bout. With nearly 20 years of this - I am fed up and exhausted - I know the full gambit of "coping skills" and tried pretty much everything at one point or another. Generally, I keep myself going by meeting the expectations of others (which also wears me down but keeps me functional). Then I progress into the whole "must have me time" and allowing myself to feel like crap for a bit. Anyways - long story short - making myself accountable to me is what I ultimately have to do. Why don't I start there? Like everything - it falls off the radar eventually...
This time however, I PLAN TO START A BULLET JOURNAL... I bought one from a great Etsy seller (Autumn and Olive), I got nice markers, (i.e. I spent a little money on myself). Now, comes the planning (+ procrastination + desire for "perfection"), which stems a bit from my issues... I have tasked myself to create it today!
Honestly, the self accountability is what lets a person see HOW you really have been and HOW things have really been going.
Therapy has never really helped because - I am a suppressor (it is the main way I 'deal' with the symptoms - otherwise I would never get anything accomplished) - and everything isn't so bad when I talk to someone. I logically know how to deal with things and what a therapist will say... so it is ineffective for me.
I am hoping a bullet journal will help me identify a trend for moods, activity, a "one good thing" for each day (I tried doing this by taking pictures and posting to Instagram - that fell off the radar pretty quickly as a daily activity), goals for the next day, etc. etc.

Hi!
Did you start your new journal yesterday?!
Bullet journaling really confronts that perfectionism thing. I deal with that too. I make mistakes all the time. I write the wrong day or drag my hand through wet ink. It bothers me much less now.
Try making heinous scribbles all over the first page! Take that, perfectionism!

[Winterbritt]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

it usually was (in this order)

-mood

-weather outside

-music i'm listening too

-anything that happened since I last journaled (good or bad)

-information about my binging and how I was doing with that

-information about my cutting

I think we need to be very careful about tracking anything negative. I am doing the journal to retrain my brain. To train myself to notice different things. I feel like if I tracked my depression - if I tracked anxiety, fatigue, things I felt bad about, then I might just be encouraging myself to think about those things in my life. So I write down different things that have nothing to do with depression. I'm not denying that problems exist. I'm just saying, "ok, what else also exists?" I have had a lot of success with it. Maybe think about things you love, or the way you wish the world was. Maybe each day write down a way that you were kind to your body? It doesn't have to feel true. It just kind of stretches your awareness in different directions.

[Winterbritt]

Originally Posted by jmariah001

I have never tried bullet journaling. Looks really involved. It's hard for me to sit and do things for long periods of time. Although I do journal almost every day just not long entries. Mostly they are about what's going on and my mood at the time. I've been journaling on and off since I was a little girl. I am now 37. I still have my first journal. I read it from time to time. I had a rough childhood by the way some of my earlier entries sound. I now keep an online journal. It's easier for me than writing. My writing has always been bad. But at least I still keep one. It really does help.

Some people get really involved with it, but the beauty of it is that it just is what you make it. There's tons of stuff online about monthly spreads and weekly spreads and future logs and etc etc. None of it's required. It's options of things that other people like. It is 100% up to you how you use it. It's not really like a regular journal where you write down how you feel and spill out your struggles. I have heard that can be cathartic for some people. But I don't use my bullet journal that way. I use it to train my brain to think in a more positive manner.

I did recently start writing down a happy memory from my childhood each day. I really believe that perception is everything in life. There's no actual story about my childhood that's true, whether it was good or bad. It's only how I feel about it and how I tell the story. I think maybe my depression caused me to overlook the good parts of life and focus on the things I thought were negative. I've been finding that I have a ton of happy memories from childhood. So maybe I actually had a happy childhood? There's no harm in investigating.