Journaling can help create a better 2016

There is a tradition in Eastern culture that, while symbolic, makes practical sense. New year celebrants drop any angst, resentment, bitterness, fear or other negative emotions into a fire as they leap over it, so the new year can begin with a clean slate. A purging exercise, a cleanse.

Journaling can purge emotions too, as well as improve physical health and perhaps aid a job hunt. University of Texas psychology professor James W. Pennebaker has been studying the effects of expressive journaling for two decades, and found that the more people do it, the better their lives can be, especially when journaling develops into a “story narrative.” We’re talking pen to paper here, not computers.

In one successfully replicated study he asked a group of jobless engineers — not a stereotypically touchy-feely profession — to write about their thoughts and feelings (any personal subject) daily for 20 minutes. A control group didn’t write. Both groups continued to look for work.

Those who journaled were five times more likely to get work (26 percent) than those who didn’t journal (5 percent) during the study period. The journalers didn’t get more interviews, but they were more likely to get hired. Why? Going through the exercise of writing out thoughts and feelings — adding the physical to the mental — reduces stress by putting people literally in closer touch with them, sort of ordering thoughts and physically externalizing them so they can purge associated emotion.

The result is less stress and more clarity. Think of it as written meditation.

Pennebaker also says people who journal go to the doctor less often. Other studies have linked journaling or personally expressive writing to improved immunity and reduction of arthritis and other pain, asthma, and some PTSD symptoms. It’s been linked with improved liver function and lower blood pressure. Researchers in New Zealand found that people with skin wounds healed faster when they wrote in diaries about their deepest feelings.

In a study reported in The Oncologist, people with a cancer diagnosis felt better about their disease after keeping a gratitude journal. Fifteen minutes of gratitude journaling (writing a list of what you’re thankful for) has also been linked with better sleep.

While these, like most studies, are more suggestive than conclusive, it certainly can’t hurt to try. At the very least, this once-popular lost art can start the new year with a mind less shackled. Regular journalers George Washington and Mark Twain certainly thought so.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.