Demystifying the Process
I was talking with a good friend the other day, and had a sort of terrifying realization. I’ve made it my job to document and share my journaling and planner habits, because I know that they work, but I couldn’t in that moment articulate why they work.
Now I’m going to begin with an important caveat. You may not need to know the why in order for it to work. It’s essentially the placebo effect, it works just because you think it works. And there is nothing wrong with weaponizing the placebo effect against your brain goblins if that’s the best whack-a-mole hammer you have.
But I’m fond of digging into why. I’m not a scientist by trade or formal education, I’m even a person of faith, but in times of turmoil I will always turn to science to keep me sane. So when a product like Silk&Sonder claims to be backed by science, I want to understand that science. And more importantly, I want to be able to make the research I've done available to those people who need to know in order to trust in these kinds of tools. Because I get it, without that background, a lot of mental health advice can come off like hippy-dippy bull💩.
So grab your favorite cuppa and let’s get into why, exactly, journaling is good for your mental health.
Many of the features of a journal like Silk&Sonder are built around a practice known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT. These include mood and habit tracking, gratitude or delight logging, guided journal prompts, and affirmations. The basic idea behind all of these is to bring positive thoughts and memories front of mind, which studies show can increase the amount of oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine in the brain. Collectively, these are often referred to as the “feel-good chemicals” or “happy hormones.”
Oxytocin
Our bodies produce oxytocin naturally in response to sex, falling in love, and has been studied extensively in relation to childbirth (though both men and women can benefit from increasing levels of oxytocin, as low levels have been linked to depression). Trials involving synthetic oxytocin delivered through nasal spray or pill have not proved particularly effective, due in part the difficulty penetrating the blood-brain barrier. Natural means of increasing oxytocin include exercise, touch, and other activities that encourage group bonding such as music, dance, and even martial arts.
Realistically, these are not things we can all participate in all of the time. Maybe we can only afford to attend one group class per week, or we don’t live with a partner and exchange frequent casual touch. Using a guided journal to recall past events in great detail, or to plan for and anticipate upcoming ones, can help create a more regular flow of oxytocin in our brains.
Dopamine
This neurotransmitter is responsible for both reward and reinforcement in our brains. When we, say, smell cookies baking in the oven, we might receive a dopamine rush, because we know that a delicious treat is coming. When we eat that delicious treat, we receive a secondary burst of satisfaction. Dopamine can assist in motivation by promising us that secondary bust after we’ve waited for the cookie to cool. While the sugar in the cookie will trigger dopamine naturally, we can train our brains to recognize anything we enjoy doing as a reward, such as watching a favorite movie or calling a faraway friend. Likewise, when we see a list of tasks, our brains can be trained to recognize the reward of accomplishment after creating them, and the sense of satisfaction upon checking all of the boxes.
Although more commonly linked with serotonin, low levels of dopamine have been observed in studies on depression, especially in those who experience low motivation as a symptom. Dopamine has also been linked with ADD/ADHD, affecting both motivation and focus. Using a habit tracker or goal planner to create a system of task-for-reward can assist in that brain training by providing a visual representation of reward for more abstract or less appealing tasks, like cleaning up the kitchen after baking those cookies.
Serotonin
Serotonin, the all-purpose mood boosting hormone, is produced in the center of the brainstem and affects systems and behaviors throughout the body including memory, sleep, digestion, breathing, temperature regulation, addiction, fear, the the stress response. It is the most common anti-depressant medications including the SSRIs and SNRIs work by increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Without taking medication, the most common way to increase serotonin in the brain is by working out, which causes the body to convert tryptophan (yes, the chemical compound found in turkey that we blame our Thanksgiving food comas on) into serotonin. This process is why many people, yours truly included, experiences what is known as “runner’s high” after intense workouts.
While sitting down to journal is not exactly an active activity, one thing I always build into mine is a monthly workout log, which allows me to build, track, and keep an exercise routine. This goes hand in hand with our above dopamine example, wherein one of our less appealing tasks might be “go run,” and when we are rewarded with the mood boosting serotonin at the end, the subsequent dopamine will help us turn this into something we want to do over time in order to receive more of that serotonin.
Endorphins
The body’s natural painkillers, these hormones are released in response to stress, but can also be associated with pleasurable experiences like having sex or enjoying a good meal — essentially, they are related to the biological urge toward survival of the species. At least 20 different types of endorphins are known to exist, and can be triggered by everything from exercise to ultraviolet light to meditation; breathing deeply can help to calm the mind and thus improve focus.
A guided journal prompt can be a great way to achieve the calm brought on by meditation if you find it difficult to be either physically or mentally idle, or to be alone with your thoughts. If words aren’t your thing, you can use a blank page to sketch, scrapbook, or mind map to help organize your thoughts and feelings.
The process of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is not the traditional psycho-analytical form of talk therapy that we still often see depicted in mass media. Instead it aims to challenge distortions and negative thought patterns, in the process effectively re-wiring the brain by making use of the body’s natural processes and chemicals. It has been proven to be as effective as medication in treating depression, ADD/ADHD, addiction and substance abuse disorders, marital problems, anxiety, and more. But I think there can be a disconnect sometimes when you are expecting to hear the very academic sounding “your inability to create a standardized routine is rooted in [x] childhood trauma,” and instead being asked, “but why would it actually be wrong to go for your run at 9:00 AM instead of 7:30?”
A journal like Silk&Sonder is not necessarily going to ask you these specific questions, but it will challenge you to ask these kinds of questions of yourself. To reflect and, hopefully, encourage you to think enough happy thoughts to break the cycles of negativity we can so easily become trapped in.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been through some of those cycles of negativity and received (I’m guessing unsolicited) advice to “just be grateful for what you have,” or to “get outside for a bit.” And if you don’t understand why this the recommendation, it can sound trite and, well, silly. I’d even argue that most of those well meaning advice givers don’t know themselves, they are merely parroting back the advice that they have received that has helped them in the past. It’s like I said at the top; it may be enough for you to simply know that these practices work to go and use them. But it may not be for everyone. It wasn’t for me the first times I was introduced to many of these practices, but now that I’ve both had a chance to both study and see their value firsthand, I hope my research can help someone else.
Happy journaling, and until next time, may you be blessed with the happy chemicals!