More and more people seem to be keeping journals or diaries these days. In Bipolar Disorder For Dummies and in the post “Journaling Your Bipolar Journey,” we recommend keeping a journal to record medication changes, mood ratings, and so on. If you keep a journal, please share your insights about it with others by answering the following questions:
- What do you typically log in your journal?
- How often do you write in your journal?
- How often do you look back at what you have written?
- How has your journal helped you manage your bipolar disorder?
Please feel free to add any additional insights or comments about topics that these questions do not address.
Journaling
Sometimes my journaling is nothing more than what I did that day. But every once in a while something important comes through. I can now tell almost immediately when my mood is going up too high or down too low just by what I write about or how often I write. A few years ago I finally got in touch with my anger by journaling. I can now more easily figure out what is upsetting me at the time rather than repressing those emotions. In most cases, I can work through that anger before I get to the boiling point by directing my anger in an assertive way at the person I am angry with. Journaling has been a very useful too in recovery for me from bipolar disorder.