Journaling for Bipolar: Unlock the Power to Manage Your Disorder

Medically Reviewed by Allison Young, MD

Last Updated: 20 Dec 2024

Journaling about our feelings releases emotions, which allows for perspective and helps us to better manage our bipolar mood episodes.

Whenever James M. feels stressed, he logs onto his computer and writes it all away.

He says that journaling has been a major source of strength and hope in managing his bipolar 1 disorder. His online journal is now around 200 pages long — and counting.

“I first started writing when I was not feeling well, and I had thoughts circling around in my head that wouldn’t go away until I wrote them down,” recalls the 30-year-old internet technology professional in Concord, New Hampshire.

Journaling can play multiple roles. It can:

Help people with bipolar understand their emotions more clearly
Help them problem-solve or plan for the future
Track aspects of their mood and behavior
Sometimes predict — and prevent — episodes of mania or depression

There are no hard-and-fast rules about when to journal, or in what form, or what to do with the entries once they are complete. Journal entries can be shared, discarded, or revisited at a later date.

James, who was diagnosed in 2012, doesn’t necessarily journal every day, and he almost never shares his pages with anyone, except for his therapist, on occasion. For him, it’s a personal and cathartic process — and, on occasion, inspiring.

“I will look back and be amazed at how much pain I was in, how much has changed, and how far I have come,” he says.

The first step in journaling: Silence your internal editor. Your entries don’t need to be polished or even grammatical. In fact, journaling doesn’t always mean putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). The process can use visual formats instead, such as drawings, collages, and vision boards.

Using Art and Words for Emotional Wellness

Journaling as part of art therapy can be helpful for individuals who don’t find it easy to express themselves in words, notes Adele C. Viguera, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

“A vision board or collage can be a good option,” she says. “Journaling can be as simple as drawing smiley faces or unhappy faces on the calendar to indicate mood.”

Both vision boards and written journals also can be used for goal-setting, Dr. Viguera points out.

“Writing down or illustrating your short-term goals for the day, or the things you want to accomplish long-term, can be very helpful,” she explains.

Sorting Out Your Feelings and Finding Emotional Balance Through Journaling

In short, the choice of how, and how often, to express yourself depends on the person.

Journaling is a versatile process that can meet you where you are, points out Ben Weinstein, MD, chair of psychiatry at Houston Methodist in Texas.

“It’s a way to offload thoughts and sort out feelings,” he says. “There are times when the very act of writing things down can resolve some of these feelings.”

James finds that letting his thoughts flow out his fingers gives him some much-needed distance.

“It gets whatever poison is running through my head out, and I feel better,” he says. “Maybe not 100 percent better, but I can start thinking of solutions.”

How Journaling Offers Judgement-Free Support

Jessica C., in her forties, has been living with bipolar 1 for nearly half her life. The Greensboro, North Carolina, resident values journaling as an emotional outlet.

“Journaling helps me because it gives me a safe space to release thoughts and emotions, with absolutely no judgment from anyone,” she says.

She has no set routine, essentially using journaling as a safety valve.

“I journal when I feel it’s necessary — most times, a few days a week, but sometimes, it’s several times a day,” she says. “I’ll just continue my previous paragraph for that day, but start out with putting the time of day that I wrote it.”

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This a great article for all people, not just for those with Bipolar Disorder. Writing my thoughts down helps me organize them and I can go back later to see what I wrote.

Melinda

Reference:

https://www.bphope.com/journaling-for-stability/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bphope&utm_content=Best+-+Jan7+-+StolenYears