Physician Burnout: Coping Skills- Journaling Part 2

Please read the first blog about using journaling as a coping skill. The summary is that journaling can be used as a coping skill to clear your mind of issues that you are thinking of. It can improve mood and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. This is a deeper dive into the use of journaling.

Journaling as a Coping Skill

I’ve found that journaling can be hit or miss for clients. For clients who have success with using journaling as a coping mechanism, the common theme is that they progress from writing about surface-level issues to diving deeper into what they are thinking and feeling. I’ll give two examples of short free-write journals.

Surface Level

Today was my birthday. I had a wonderful day. I spent time with the children at the park and then we headed to the library. Afterward, we grabbed some fast food Mexican food. That carne asada burrito was hot fire. My daughter loved the tortilla on the burrito. She is such a good eater. I wonder where she got that from. I wonder what her favorite food is. After nap time, we watched Mr. Rogers, who taught about competition. Mr. Rogers is a great teacher. I want my kids to watch more of that show instead of all the other stuff that’s on TV. 

Deeper Dive

Today was my birthday. I turned 38 years old. It was a wonderful day. I spent time with the children at the park and then headed to the library. I love spending time with my family. Just being together brings me joy. I want more of this in my life. What do I need to do to make this happen? It’s important to me but I haven’t put the effort into making this happen. What are the things that are stopping me from really making this a top priority? I have the time. I have the energy. Maybe it’s all the time I spend on my phone scrolling through random posts. Is scrolling more important than time with my kids? Maybe it’s because I'm more stressed out. Maybe scrolling is my way of relaxing.  Maybe I can find a way to relax with the kid instead.

Comparing the Journals

For the surface level journal, it’s a narrative of the day. There were some areas of the journal where it was more than just a narrative of the day, such as wondering about the daughter. Besides that, this was more of a brain dump. And there is value in brain dumping. Brain dumping allows a review of the day. When people brain dump, they can review their highs and lows for the day. You can get more out of the journal if you start to dig deeper. In the deeper dive journal, there is some digging. The person talks about how they want to have more joy in their life and what needs to happen. They reflect on why it isn’t happening and the issues surrounding it. They are exploring what their priorities are. They are thinking of solutions to make changes in their life. This is much different than a surface-level narrative. This type of journaling, the deeper dive, is where you will get more bang for your buck. 

Start Journaling to Feel Better

Step one of journaling is to start. Start the activity. 5 minutes of writing. Step 2 is to do a deeper dive. Start to reflect and think deeply about the many issues that you are experiencing. Instead of openly free writing and writing about everything and anything that comes to mind, you can choose 1 issue and go deep with it. I’ll give you a prompt to get started

Your 1st Journal Prompt

Write for 5 minutes. Write about an experience you had when you felt happy. What was the experience? Why did this experience make you happy? If someone was looking at you during this experience, how would they know you were happy? Where in your body did you feel this emotion? How would you describe the feeling of happiness to a 5-year-old? What is something you can do today that would make you feel happy? Take your time with this experience. There is no right or wrong answer to this question. This journal will help you recognize your emotion of happiness.

As I’ve said in the previous blog, journaling is a great coping skill. It’s a great way to do self-reflection. I do it regularly and recommend it to my clients. Just like the other coping skills that I recommend, give this a good try. Doing this 5 times is a good try. Make sure to think deeply and not just scratch the surface. You’ll get better outcomes when you start to go deep.

Reach out for Therapy for Physician Burnout

Learn tools and skills to overcome physician burnout Start your journey to overcome physician burnout with Chris Rabanera. Get started with a free 15-minute consultation.  Offering online therapy in California, online therapy in Michigan, online therapy in Nebraska, and online therapy in Las Vegas, I specialize in addressing physician burnout, grief counseling, anxiety, depression, and providing tailored mental health treatment for men. Let’s get to work to make lasting positive change.