'''Journaling''' is the oldest and most widely practiced form of self-help through [[writing]] is that of keeping a [[personal]] journal (as distinct from a diary of weekly appointments) in which the writer records their most [[meaning]]ful [[thoughts]] and [[feelings]]. One [[individual]] benefit is that the act of writing puts a [[power]]ful brake on the torment of endlessly repeating troubled [[thoughts]] to which everyone is prone. As one person describes it: "Quite what happens when near-obsessive ruminations, which frequently take place in the small hours of the night, are committed to paper is difficult to describe. It does feel as if the trap door of a mental treadmill has been opened to allow persecutory [[thoughts]] to escape. Though the accompanying feelings may [[persist]] for a [[time]], the thoughts begin to [[integrate]] or dissipate or reach some constructive resolution." | '''Journaling''' is the oldest and most widely practiced form of self-help through [[writing]] is that of keeping a [[personal]] journal (as distinct from a diary of weekly appointments) in which the writer records their most [[meaning]]ful [[thoughts]] and [[feelings]]. One [[individual]] benefit is that the act of writing puts a [[power]]ful brake on the torment of endlessly repeating troubled [[thoughts]] to which everyone is prone. As one person describes it: "Quite what happens when near-obsessive ruminations, which frequently take place in the small hours of the night, are committed to paper is difficult to describe. It does feel as if the trap door of a mental treadmill has been opened to allow persecutory [[thoughts]] to escape. Though the accompanying feelings may [[persist]] for a [[time]], the thoughts begin to [[integrate]] or dissipate or reach some constructive resolution." |