There are many facets to mental health, from experiencing stress and overwhelm to having a mental illness like anxiety or depression. No matter what mental health issue you are currently facing, the practice of writing in a journal can help tremendously which our functional medicine Los Angeles professionals strongly recommend.
Your Current Mental Health and What is Causing it
Mental health tends to be a blanket term for many different things, from the stress you experience to mental illnesses you might be suffering from. According to our functional medicine Studio City practitioners, journaling is going to help you figure out where your mental health status is and what might be causing it.
No, journaling is not a crystal ball and definitely not a licensed therapist, but it does help with more self-awareness. Sometimes, you feel bad but you don’t know why. Your heart races and your stomach is in knots, but you don’t realize it’s your anxiety. You are irritable and constantly in a terrible mood, but you don’t know it’s from your stress.
These are the types of things that journaling can reveal about your mental health.
Understanding Your Own Anxiety
Anxiety is much more common than you might realize, so you are definitely not alone if this is something you have been struggling with. Luckily, journaling can help a lot with your anxiety, along with other treatments you are pursuing.
Similar to revealing more about your mental health in general, journaling can help reveal more about your anxiety. What is triggering it, what makes it worse, but helps you to feel better? The more you write in a journal about how you are feeling, the more you discover exactly how long you have had anxiety, and even when it might have started. You often discover so many situations from your past that you didn’t realize were directly linked to your anxiety.
Identifying and Releasing Causes of Stress
Writing in a journal is a great way of figuring out what is causing you the most stress in your life so you can work on reducing it. Everyone has stress, and most of the time, it is unavoidable. Sure, you might be the catalyst of your own stressors from time to time, but for the most part, it is simply the result of something you didn’t expect.
However, you do have control over how you react to stress and reduce the feelings of stress on the body and mind. With journaling, you are able to identify your main stressors and work to either reduce them or change how you react to them.
In conclusion, our functional medicine Burbank experts suggest that journaling can help express your thoughts, emotions, and even your sorrows, providing an opportunity to reframe your mind for a healthier outlook.
If you have concerns about your mental or emotional wellness, our functional medicine Sherman Oaks can help. Feel free to schedule a consultation at Functional Medicine Los Angeles.