It goes without saying that addiction recovery is a time of great emotional turmoil. People often find that they’ve been using alcohol and/or other substances as a way to suppress difficult feelings. Thus, once they no longer have substance use to utilize as a coping mechanism, they find themselves struggling to process their emotions. There is a wide range of techniques that we teach during addiction recovery but in this article we’re going to focus on one of the most widely helpful and easy to implement ones — journaling.
Why Is Journaling so Popular?
Journaling can be incredibly beneficial for virtually anyone! Research shows that it often has a strong positive effect and can even help with a whole host of mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and high stress levels. The benefits are so significant that people were shown to recover from viral illness quicker if they journal. So, why does journaling improves people health and wellbeing so dramatically? The answer is simple — it provides us with a way to open up about feelings — even those difficult ones we feel like we can’t bring up with friends or loved ones. So many people deal with persistent feelings of guilt, shame, and embarrassment but feel unable to speak openly about them as they fear this may bring about even further negative emotions. In these cases, journaling can provide a safe space that doesn’t involve anyone’s outside judgement. People often find that shortly after they begin journaling, they begin to express emotions they’ve never been able to articulate before.
How to Start a Journaling Practice
At its core, journaling is quite a simple activity and there’s no need to make it any more complicated. You simply need to choose whether you’re going to use a digital app or go the traditional route and opt for pen and paper. Then, spend some time making sure that you find your journal is aesthetically pleasing so that you enjoy writing in it — but try to avoid spending too much time on this as it can become a distraction from actually writing. Once you’re done, all that’s left is for you to begin writing! You can talk about your day-to-day life, any unexpected emotions you’re experiencing, or hopes and plans for the future. What’s most important is that you remain consistent and you get to writing every day — even if it’s just for 5 or 10 minutes.
Take the Next Step with Hickory Treatment Centers
Here at Hickory Treatment Centers, we believe in the importance of individual attention and tailor-made approach toward each patient we treat. Our multidisciplinary team of medical professionals collaborate to develop the most appropriate treatment plans for everyone and are always ready to make adjustments if needed. If you’re ready to make the first step towards recovery, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
