Why you should start journaling

According to experts and studies, a diary helps to improve your health.

Most people use diaries to record thoughts and / or secrets.

We have known that they can also be very useful from a medical point of view since the recommendation of a contact diary * from Christian Drosten.

The latter should help to trace coronavirus infections.

But diaries can also be used to treat various ailments and diseases.

Diaries help with chronic complaints and various illnesses

According to a report by

welt.de

, diaries can have beneficial effects - in many ways.

Studies have meanwhile shown that so-called “

expressive writing

” can help with asthma, joint problems with rheumatism and other chronic complaints.

Even with AIDS patients, the virus concentration is said to decrease and infarct patients would have to take less medication.

What is "expressive writing"?

This technique was developed over 30 years ago by the American psychologist James W. Pennebaker.

For three to five days in a row you take 15 minutes to write down stressful things.

Silke Heimes, doctor and professor of journalism, offers instructions for this in her book “I write myself healthy” (commercial link).

In it she describes a

12

-

week

-

program

, which is to help identify patterns and situations in which complaints increasingly come to the fore.

This should make it easier to bypass them or to get along with them better.

However, Heimes told

welt.de

: "Of course, pen and paper do not replace medical treatment".

But keeping a diary helps deal with the psychological stress that comes with serious illnesses like cancer.

Also read

: Four signs: It's that easy to tell whether your heart is healthy.

Writing can also help with depression and burnout

A working group of psychologists from Jena has developed a similar method.

The

resource diary

focuses on positive experiences and your own strengths.

This should not only improve your mood, it should also reduce visits to the doctor and physical complaints.

A resource diary should be particularly helpful for people with a high risk of depression or burnout.

One way you can use the resource journal is to take notes every day and ask three questions a week for a month, for example:

• When was the last time I felt comfortable?

• What do i like about myself

• What am I grateful for?

Incidentally, it doesn't matter whether you buy a diary, create a file on the computer or just write on a piece of paper.

You can freely choose the variant you prefer.

(ec) * merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen editorial network.

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