Journaling for Parkinson’s

To maintain mental wellness, it is important to take time to pause and reflect on different situations, struggles, and joys present in your life. Looking inward and reflecting on your experiences can help you better understand your thoughts and feelings. By clarifying your emotions through self-reflection, you can grow more self-aware and better equipped to cope with feeling stressed, worried, or overwhelmed. Journaling has been found to reduce intrusive thoughts, freeing up cognitive capacity for things like memory and coping with negative emotions (Carpenter, 2001).

Journaling is a powerful means of self-reflection because it allows you to externalize thoughts and feelings that may be too personal to share with others. It also gives you an option to track your changing perspectives over time, simply by returning to old entries; many people find it motivating to record their personal growth.

A journal can also be a tool for self-care. Writing things down has long been understood as an effective way to remember — the simple process of externalizing a thought and putting it in motion by writing, drawing, or typing, can strengthen memory. With this in mind, journaling can be a great way to remind yourself of what you’re grateful for, things that make you happy, and positive affirmations that help you feel empowered.

Getting Started

While you may feel hesitant or nervous about journaling, remember that you do not need to be a good writer to journal. A journal can be anything you want it to be – a general description of your day, emotions you experience, one-word reflections or observations, or sketches and doodles. The most important thing is that it provides a private outlet for self-expression.

To help you stay on track, make journaling easy by using the medium that best works for you. Whether you prefer sketchbooks, computer documents, index cards, or voice recordings, there is no ‘right’ way to journal.

When you journal, your main goal is to honestly and candidly express what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. You can stop there, or you may wish to delve deeper and reflect more thoroughly. You might consider some of the following questions (Bennett, 2019):

• How long have I been feeling this way?
• Where did this feeling come from?
• What belief formed this thought or feeling?
• Have experiences in my past triggered similar feelings? How did I overcome or manage them?
• Am I being too hard on myself? Can I use more empowering language?

If you are looking to practice journaling as a means of self-care, expressing the things you are grateful for is a good place to start. No matter how small the positive experience, focusing on the good things in life can help inspire more joy and motivation.

People with Parkinson’s and carepartners alike can greatly benefit from gratitude journaling as a means of coping with life with Parkinson’s, and the changes it brings. Living with the disease, or caring for someone who does, can be overwhelming; journaling can help bring life back into perspective, and remind you that Parkinson’s disease does not define you.

Try using some of the following prompts while gratitude journaling (Therapist Aid, 2017):

• “The best part about today was…”
• “Three good things that happened today were…”
• “Today I smiled when…”
• “Something I can be proud of is…”
• “A reason to look forward to the future is…”
• “Something about today I’ll always want to remember is…”

Tracking Exercise, Goals, and Accomplishments

Journaling can be used to track exercise, goals, and accomplishments. Before you begin a new exercise or habit, create a journal entry that expresses your reasons for engaging in that new activity. Written or visual representation of your motivation and progress will show how far you have come, and help keep you on track. Don’t forget to celebrate your successes and milestones!

Journaling & Parkinson’s Disease Management

Beyond the general mental and physical health benefits of journaling, people with Parkinson’s and their carepartners can also journal to track PD-specific matters. For example, keeping a food diary may help identify dietary changes that could improve non-motor symptoms, such as constipation. Recording medications and upcoming appointments may help you stay organized and ready to effectively communicate with your healthcare team.

If you are a support group member, try taking your journal with you to note anything that stands out in your meetings. You may hear an important piece of advice, or an uplifting story that you won’t want to forget. After meetings, you can revisit your entries to reflect on how you feel, what you learned, and questions you would like to ask your peers or facilitators next time.

Another journaling tool that may be useful is Parkinson Society BC’s Comprehensive Care Plan Checklist – this resource can help you pinpoint existing symptoms you may have under control and/or new symptoms you would like to address. Completing this checklist before beginning a new medication, treatment, or exercise regime, and then revisiting it several months later, can help you and your healthcare team assess improvements and tailor your care plan to best meet your needs. Click here to download the checklist.

Sources

Bennett, T. (2019). How Can Journaling Help Me? Tips for Keeping a Self-Care Journal. Thriveworks. Retrieved from www.thriveworks.com/blog/journaling-tips-keeping-self-care-journal

Carpenter, S. (2001). A new reason for keeping a diary. Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved from www.apa.org/monitor/sep01/keepdiary

Therapist Aid. (2017). Gratitude Journal (Worksheet). Retrieved from www.therapistaid.com/therapyworksheet/gratitude-journal

This content was published in the Summer 2021 edition of our quarterly magazine, Viewpoints. The content was accurate as of this publication date.