In a previous blog, one of our adolescent blogging ambassadors talked about some benefits of journaling. The practice of journaling regularly has physical benefits—for example, it really helps strengthen the immune system! Emotionally, it helps us organize our thoughts, explore and articulate our emotions, and better appreciate our lives by helping us focus on positive experiences and attitudes.
But we may still find it difficult to make time to do it. We may struggle to find a time to journal or feel stuck in negative emotions. Let’s look at some ways to overcome these challenges and improve your journaling practice.
Pick out the journal that’s right for you
Make the experience enjoyable from the start by lingering over your choice of journal. There are so many different styles to choose from, and you don’t have to try just one. Maybe you’d like to use paper and pen—you can even make your own. Or maybe you prefer to journal with your phone or tablet—if so, there are many cool apps.
There are journals designed for specific purposes, such as gratitude journals and mood journals. As you make your selection, think about the goals you’d like to achieve in your journaling practice. For example, do you want to reduce your stress, manage your anger, or list meaningful moments of your life? Thinking about your purposes can help you choose a journal that supports you.
If you have trouble blocking out a certain “writing time” in your day, find a journal that includes notifications. For example, a free mood-journal app called “My Life My Voice” lets you set electronic reminders, and it lets you journal not just with words but also with emoticons, photos, and voice recordings. It also lets you see trends in your moods over time, and it gives you useful tips on how better to manage your negative emotions.
Find ways to work through negative emotions that come up during journaling
One of the biggest barriers to journaling is focusing too much on our negative emotions. If we don’t have strategies to work through these emotions, journaling might make us feel even more upset. Here are some strategies:
Look at your thoughts in a more objective way. Journaling can help you recognize your irrational and distorted thoughts. As you journal, identify these thoughts, then try replacing them by writing more objective ones. Replacing means not repressing them but putting them in context. Gratitude journals are particularly good at countering depressive thoughts by reminding us how much we appreciate all we have. Journals can also change our attitudes about relationships. For example, after having an argument with your mom, you might fume in your journal, “I think she obviously does not care about my feelings at all!” But as journaling helps you calm down, you may try to look at evidence about that first feeling: “Well, she was the one who asked me to talk with her.” The evidence may change your mind: “Maybe she does care about me!”
Learn to see nuances in your emotions. Have you ever felt totally annoyed by someone you deeply love? That’s nuance: it means being able to hold seemingly conflicting feelings at the same time. For example, when someone you trust lies to you, you may feel a burst of anger, and you may also feel disappointed and hurt. It’s helpful to be able to understand that we’re complicated beings whose feelings are not always so black-and-white.
Try to end your journal entries on a positive note. The only attitudes and behavior we can change is our own. Think about not-so-pleasant moments as learning experiences, and contemplate which of your own attitudes and behaviors you could change to make life better next time. For example, after having an unproductive study night, you may wind up criticizing yourself in your journal—and then, as you continue journaling, you could strategize about ways to avoid distractions next time. The past cannot be changed, but journaling about your attitudes towards the past can help you write new stories for your future.
Talk about your journal with your therapist or someone else you trust.
Journaling can be a valuable tool to help both you and your therapist better understand your approaches toward life. Through talking about your journal with your therapist, you may improve your ability to recognize patterns in your emotions. Sharing your journal with trusted adults can help you identify triggers of negative feelings and experiences and create ways to approach them more effectively in the future. It can also help build trust in your relationships.
What kinds of journaling experiences have you had? What challenges have you encountered, and how did you approach them? Share your experiences, stories, and strategies in the comments.
Do you ever feel too attached to your phone? We all get upset when our phones fall into puddles, or when we have to put our phones away during class.
But some people feel super intense discomfort when they get separated from their phones. Researchers have named this state of mind “nomophobia.” Its important to note that this is not a medical diagnosis right now, but a term some researchers are using to describe a trend.
It stands for “no mobile phobia.” People who experience nomophobia feel like their phone is like an extension of their body, so taking it away makes them feel as though someone just walked away with their hand! They feel addicted to their phones.
One recent study found that “dependent personalities”—people who have an excessive need for affirmation from others, and who fear separation—are the most likely to feel distressed when they’re not allowed to use their phones. Also, women showed significantly stronger feelings of attachment than men did.
The good news from this study is that there is one discipline that may ease these feelings—mindfulness!
(Is there any mental health condition that mindfulness does not help?!)
There are many ways to improve one’s mindfulness. In this study, participants practiced meditation. In general mindfulness helps people who struggle with unhealthy attachments, whether it’s to their phone, a loved one, a substance, an outcome of a situation, and so on. Plus, mindfulness can help us in many ways, not just with attachment! Practicing mindfulness can decrease stress, increase focus, and improve memory!
Psychology Todayrecommends some other strategies to help with nomophobia:
Set aside times each day to turn off your cell phone and experience either face-to-face conversations or solitude.
Balance screen time and in-person time each week. For every hour you invest in front of a screen, invest one in human contact.
Try a technology fast every month, where you actually go for a day or more without a computer, tablet or phone. You’ll feel liberated.
Human beings didn’t always sleep with phones on their nightstands or even under their pillows. Place your phone at least 15 feet away from you when you sleep at night. You’ll have to get up to push “snooze” on your alarm clock, but this way you’re less attached while you sleep.
Create zones in your days when you spend time using technology, and other blocks of time for organic, genuine interaction with people.
What do you think about nomophobia? How many minutes (or seconds) pass between the time you wake up and the time you check your phone? Have you ever tried to practice mindfulness yourself? Share your experiences in the comments.
It is hard saying that its time to get help for how you feel for a lot of different reasons. One of the most common reasons is because the actual symptoms of depression can make it tough to want to get help.
Guilt — Depression can make you feel like everything that goes wrong is your fault. You also feel bad for all kinds of different things. Some young people feel bad that they would have to get treatment for depression, too. They think only if they could take care of their problems on their own, they wouldn’t have to ask for help or trouble their parents to take them to the doctor or therapist. The fact is that depression is not your fault – just like any other illness or disease is not your fault either.
Not feeling motivated — Part of depression is not feeling up to doing much of anything. You would rather stay in bed or in the house than face the world. Going to see a therapist or a doctor about an emotional problem is tough for anyone, but especially if you don’t feel like even doing things you used to think were fun. It can help to have a friend or family member go with you and try to help you get to your appointments so you can get better.
Having a hard time concentrating — Even if you do get to a therapist, participating in therapy appointments can be a lot of work. You need to really think about how you think and how you have dealt with different experiences in the past so you can learn from them. When you are depressed, you can have a hard time focusing and concentrating on things. Your brain can feel worn out and like mush – that can make participating in therapy hard. Be open with your therapist. If you feel like you can’t focus, they can change or slow down their strategy – or talk to your doctor about whether adding medications would help.
Lack of energy — Being depressed can be a draining process. You might feel like you would rather be sleeping or just like you have no energy to do anything. Even if you were motivated, you’d have no energy to get yourself to actually do anything. This is another reason having a support person can be really helpful.
Sleep disturbances — Not being able to sleep well can really take a toll on anyone, but especially if you are already experiencing other symptoms of depression. Talk to your doctor or therapist about the problems you have with sleeping. Keep a sleep diary to help you let them know exactly what is going on. Everyone is different, but usually there are different strategies that can help. Getting good sleep can make a world of difference in how you feel. Here are some strategies which may help you.
A major part of adolescence and young adulthood is finding and keeping a job. When struggling with anxiety or depression, this can create obstacles to being successful in your work. Many questions can arise: What is needed to support your mental health? Should you tell your employer? If so, how much should I disclose?
To start, it is important that you know your rights! Psychological disabilities are covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Requests for accommodations can usually be made to the company’s Human Resources department.
Consider your work environment before disclosing mental health concerns. Unfortunately, stigma exists in work environments. It is important to protect yourself from any harm that might be caused by speaking on your mental health concerns. If it turns out you think more harm than good would come of talking about your mental health, it might be best to find another place to work that is more respectful of mental health. Lastly, the article recommends some flexibility. It’s important to find that balance between meeting the needs of the job without sacrificing your wellbeing. This might require some discussion between you and your employer, so it’s important to be flexible and find a compromise that fits the needs on both sides.
Do you have any experience with juggling a mental health concern and work? We’d love to hear any tips you have in the comments below!
Self-care is all about improving ourselves, having more energy and being more satisfied with the events happening in and around us.
Self-care involves a daily routine to achieve these goals by implementing the three core methods of self-care which, when used together, can lead to a better well-being and happiness within oneself.
One of these core components to taking care of ourselves is exercise.
Exercise is not just beneficial physically, but also mentally. By engaging in vigorous exercise, which is defined as “heart racing and body sweating” for 20 to 60 minutes a week.
Exercise increases cardiovascular activity, burns extra calories, but most importantly, it releases endorphins in the brain, which have a role in reducing stress and managing depression, as well as decreases the stress hormones in the body, like cortisol.
Exercise can also be a great oulet for frustrations and anger (like martial arts or weight training). It can take your mind off of problems and troubling thoughts, just by placing you in a different environment and forcing you to focus on your deep breathing.
Research has shown that even minimal exercise is better than none, so even starting with walking the dog around the block a few times can increase your heart rate and get you moving! (Plus, you get to spend time with your furry friend!) Also, it can be really beneficial to start an exercise routine with friends which allows you to motivate each other day-to-day.
It is proven that it takes 21+ days to make an activity a routine, so summer is the perfect time to start getting moving, especially outside! Once you have done moderate exercise for a few weeks, you can increase the intensity, which yields even more benefits, and more feelings of happiness!
Some easy ways to start exercising are: cycling, jogging, Zumba, swimming, and dancing.
Yoga is also another tool to use which incorporates small meditation, increased flexibility and learning about yourself (inside or outside).
Overall, for motivation, remember the benefits of exercise:
getting better sleep
thinking more clearly
having more energy for the day
speed up your metabolism
improved cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugars
The term “mindfulness” is kicked around a lot lately. Trying to figure out what it means, and how it can help can be overwhelming. Here’s a short video that explains mindfulness in a simple, easy-to-digest way!
Have you tried mindfulness? What’s worked and what hasn’t for you?
Relationships with peers are an important part of life. There are many different kinds of relationships young people can have with their peers –including friendships, dating relationships. But as with all human relationships, issues can come up. We found a great resource page at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health to help with some serious issues connected to peer relationships including dating violence and bullying. This page also provides information for LGBT adolescents as well as ways to maintain healthy friendships. Check out the website, and let us know what you think.
Can you think of some other issues you’ve come across as part of your peer relationships? How did you work through the problem?
The urge to maintain an online presence can be exhausting. Sure, social media isn’t always negative, but there are important things to keep in mind about using social media that can prevent it from being a bad experience. For example, monitoring your self-esteem as you use social media. It’s important to be self-aware about the way social media makes us feel. If you use a particular social media site and you come away feeling worse about yourself because of it, it might be time to reconsider the use of that platform. If I log onto Facebook and become frustrated and unhappy about my life because I compare it to others, it’s important that I consider changing the way I use the site. This might mean changing how long I use Facebook, or who I am interacting with, maybe even considering if it’s worthwhile to use the site at all.
Social media can have a lasting impact on our self-esteem. Bustle.com posted an article explaining the ways that social media affects our self-esteem. Their list includes items like:
1) Social media can lead us to disengage from our real experiences. When we’re too busy worried
about getting the perfect pic of the view, we can end up missing the view itself.
2) Social media can bring about false connections with others. Because online interactions are not grounded in real-life, this can mean they lack the power that face-to-face exchanges have. This lacking can affect the way we view ourselves. Bustle points out that this doesn’t mean we can’t make valuable connections online, it just means we’re at risk of building false connections when there’s no face-to-face contact.
3) Social media can bring on a battle for likes. It’s very hard to not compare the amount of likes across people and content. It’s also hard not to makes those likes into a reflection of self-worth. The more likes, the better we feel. But what kind of affect does it have on you when you don’t get the number of likes you wanted?
All of these points are important to keep in mind while using social media. Is the reward worth the cost? Social media is a complicated thing. It’s important to be mindful of the way it makes us feel, and to make changes to be sure social media isn’t taking a hit on self-esteem.
What do you do to avoid social media hurting your self-esteem?
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