What is Grief Journaling?

Coping with and finding safe outlets for grief can often be a challenge for those overcoming a loss. Many people aren’t great at communicating their feelings. Other people may not want to discuss their grief. Journaling your grief, however, can be a good way to confront your feelings while getting them out into the open. Whether you type it out or put pen to paper, there are several benefits to journaling your grief. This article will discuss the benefits of grief journaling and how it can help you process feelings.

What is Grief Journaling?

Grief Journaling is the act of writing out thoughts and ideas regarding grief. It offers a private, therapeutic outlet for your feelings. Journaling can be a private, flexible activity that allows you to express yourself to your comfort level. Writing can be a powerful tool for expressing and articulating emotions. Overall, it is a great way to explore your feelings and release some of the tensions of your grief. While writing about painful feelings can seem intimidating, journaling has been shown to improve motivation, well-being, and overall energy levels.

What to Write About

Finding something to write about can be challenging, especially if you are overwhelmed by emotion. Consider buying a grief journal with prompts on each page. You may also be able to find prompts online. Consider writing about some of your favorite memories of the deceased. You could also write about how you are feeling today. Try documenting how your grief has affected you this week. Alternatively, you could try to free-write. Just let your mind wander and keep writing. Some example prompts may include:

• The hardest part of my day is…
• My favorite memory with them is…
• The thing I miss the most about them is…

Grief Journaling and Setting Routines

Routines help us feel a sense of normalcy in our lives. This is especially true after a major life change. Writing about your feelings can require energy and motivation, which may not always be there. But setting aside time to journal can give you a chance to focus on the task.
Taking the time to create a routine out of your journaling process can help you have the motivation and energy to do more overall. Whether you write every day or once a week, developing a routine around it can be beneficial.

Journaling Reduces Avoidant Activity

It can be easy to try to push away feelings of grief and pain. Many people would rather bottle up feelings until they explode, instead of talking about them. Avoidance works as a temporary solution, but eventually grief comes back around. Journaling helps you confront and work through grief, rather than spending energy avoiding it.
Documenting your grief can help you cope without just pushing it all away. Journaling your feelings and grief-related experiences can help you confront your emotions and work through them.

Grief Journaling and Your Physical Well-being

Writing about difficult emotions or tragic experiences can actually benefit you physically. According to some studies, stress indicators, such as heart rate and blood pressure, can be improved by journaling grief. While they may rise during the journaling process, the studies show that afterwards, stress indicators were lower than when the subject started.

Grief Journaling and Your Mental Well-being

Along with physical benefits, journaling is shown to help with mental health. Writing helps reduce anxiety and depression symptoms. Getting your feelings and thoughts onto paper can help reduce stress and can be incredibly beneficial, psychologically. 

Positive Impacts on Sleep Cycle

Grief can affect sleep patterns. Stress and depression can cause people to sleep too much or too little. Additionally, it can lead to restless sleep. Writing or talking about your emotions can help you get a better night’s sleep, because it reduces stress and helps you cope with your grief. 

Writing Builds Skill

One beautiful thing about journaling is that it has the extra value of skill-building. Much like any skill, the more you write, the more you will improve at it. Grief journaling can help you become a better writer overall. Writing is a skill that can be beneficial in almost any profession, and it never hurts to improve a skill. Some people find that grief journaling can help them explore writing as a hobby down the line.

Grief is Different for Everyone

Not every coping mechanism for grief works for everyone. Because everyone experiences grief differently, it is important to find a method that works for you. If you need help discovering grief coping methods that can work for you, consider speaking with a professional therapist or grief counselor. 

The author of this post is not a professional therapist or counselor. For more personalized grief care, find a grief counselor who is right for you. For our Grief Resource Center, written by Dr. Bill Webster, click here. 
For over 50 years, Matthew Funeral Home has been serving the Staten Island community. We can help with almost every aspect of your loved one’s memorial service. Our family is here to serve yours, every step of the way.