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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 19 of 19. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 10:05:20
Well, here I am again...seems to me I have jumped in whole heartedly to both boards...< Smiles >
A question...Does anyone else use a Journal? I have a small but helpful journal program on my computer which also tracks my moods. I thought at first Oh Yeah just what I need something else to do...but I have been fairly good at posting at least a sentence and loggin my mood for the day or night, whenever I am writing.
I was wondering if anyone else uses a journal to track how they are doing and if there are any ideas on how to get oneself to write more often? I seem to skip when I have a Really Bad day...which throws the results off in the emotional log of course...
Blessings,
Rhainy
Posted by Nibor on August 17, 2000, at 10:58:40
In reply to Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 10:05:20
> Well, here I am again...seems to me I have jumped in whole heartedly to both boards...< Smiles >
>
> A question...Does anyone else use a Journal? I have a small but helpful journal program on my computer which also tracks my moods. I thought at first Oh Yeah just what I need something else to do...but I have been fairly good at posting at least a sentence and loggin my mood for the day or night, whenever I am writing.
>
> I was wondering if anyone else uses a journal to track how they are doing and if there are any ideas on how to get oneself to write more often? I seem to skip when I have a Really Bad day...which throws the results off in the emotional log of course...
>
> Blessings,
> Rhainy
Hi, Rhainy
I got the impression from your reply to a previous message that you had to drive to access the internet. So.....here's some copy from our website about keeping a Mood Journal. It might not reproduce well; for example, there are six columns, but I hope it will be of some use to you.The Mood Journal
In this log I'm asking you to describe not only your mood changes and the external and internal events accompanying them, but also how you think a "normal" person might feel under such circumstances. You may know someone you think of as well adjusted, someone who seems to experience a full range of emotion, whom you might want to use as a hypothetical model. Imagine how that person would feel in the external situation you are in, given the thoughts, memories, and fantasies that you are having. Then try to rate the extent to which your mood change is in synch with "normal" feelings.Mood Journal
1 Date,
time
2 Mood
change
3 Externals (who,
what, where, other
unusual circumstances)
4 Internals (thoughts,
fantasies,
memories)
5 "Normal"
feelings
6 Mood/ feeling
agreement (1-10)
Instructions: when you detect a shift in mood, write down the change (e.g., from neutral to sad), the external circumstances (what you were doing, where, with whom), and the internal circumstances (what you were thinking about, daydreaming, or remembering). Then based on those external and internal circumstances, describe how you think a "normal" person might feel (e.g., sad, angry, happy, proud). Then rate how much your mood agrees with "normal" feelings (1= no agreement, 10 = complete agreement). This is an important and powerful tool. If you use it correctly and regularly, you can begin to get around your own defensive system. This may not feel good. You may find yourself worrying more, feeling perhaps a bit more edgy. You are going to become more aware of things that upset you.
This awareness is what depressives try to avoid. Just remember that this avoidance sacrifices your true self and makes you depressed. You may see your defenses at work in how you use the Mood Journal. You may forget to use it (repressing a conflict between your wish to get better and your fear of change). You may get mad at it for suggesting things you don't want to hear (projecting your anger at yourself onto an external object). You may think it is boring and a waste of time (isolating your affect and intellectualizing your feelings). Try very hard to stick with it nonetheless.Review the Mood Journal every day, ideally at the same time of day, when you have a few minutes and can give it your attention. See what patterns you begin to notice. Follow this intellectual exercise with a relaxation routine (see chapter 8). The time spent in relaxation will give your unconscious mind the opportunity to digest what your review of the Mood Journal has told the thinking part of your brain. We are talking here about changing lifelong habits of thinking and feeling; you need to get all the different parts of yourself working together on this task.
Trying to change yourself in this way is hard work. It helps if you can laugh at yourself. I'm the kind of person who buys self-help books about getting organized, then misplaces them. I've lost the same book on "accounting for nonprofit managers" so often that I finally bought three copies. There is a perverse gremlin within us that resists change, especially the kind of change that someone else says is good for us. My strategy has now become to appreciate the gremlin's tricks on me, then try to outwit the little beast. So if you find yourself losing this book, or if you find that life always interferes with completing the Mood Journal, just assume that your gremlin is at work. Laugh ruefully at the games he's playing with you, then see what you can do to be smarter than he is.
After a few weeks' practice with the Mood Journal, you should begin to see the connections between your mood changes, external events, and internal processes. Once you can see that mood changes are caused by what's happening to you, you can stop pretending that they come "out of the blue." What I think you'll also find is that your moods are more closely connected to "normal" feelings than you think they are. The depressed person often feels there is no reason for feeling depressed, and thus feels crazy or out of control. But if we take the trouble to investigate, to get underneath our own defenses, we usually find that there are perfectly good reasons for feeling the way we do. Understanding that is the first step toward doing something about it.
Posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 12:54:56
In reply to Re: Keeping a Journal (long) » Rhainy, posted by Nibor on August 17, 2000, at 10:58:40
Nibor,
> I got the impression from your reply to a previous message that you had to drive to access the internet.
I guess I wasnt clear enough...shall clarify. No I have Access here at home. I live in a remote area and do not have readily avaialbe access to the Groups that many are suggesting.
I will see the site and look into the Mood Journal as you have suggested.
THank You For Being Here!
Blessings,
Rhainy
Posted by Noa on August 19, 2000, at 12:17:41
In reply to Re: Keeping a Journal (long)Short Now » Nibor, posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 12:54:56
Nibor, thanks for the material on keeping a mood journal.
Rhainny, I used to keep a journal fairly consistently, and it really helped me. It wasn't a mood journal so much as a place to express myself, especially at a time when expressing myself orally was difficult. I could do it better in writing.
For a few years, I had a journal going that was very helpful. It involved identifying my goals for the year, and then choosing small do-able objectives from the array of possible goals, to write about and try to accomplish each month. It really worked. I made sure to keep the goals and objectives manageable and simple, and only chose one or two each month to work on. By the end of the year, I had accomplished quite a lot. I guess it was really a journal about focusing on what was important to me, staying in touch with how I wanted to live my life. It helped keep me from getting bogged down in the unimportant stuff that happens all the time.
In the past few years, I have had a much worse depression, with accompanying health problems making it a huge messy tangle of ill health and mood that has been hard to treat. I am at a point now where I am beginning to untangle the mess and figure out how to improve my well being, but a lot of damage has been done to my health, my lifestyle and my relationships in the meantime. During this time, once the depression was pretty bad, I stopped writing, but have been thinking about going back to it.
I suppose what I write on PB has been something of a substitute for journaling, but I really want to start up a journal again. And I think I would like to include a bit of mood and health status tracking, including, actually, my reproductive cycles, too, because they have been so irregular. I think that regular entries in a journal might help to reestablish a rhythm to my life, which has felt mostly irregular and chaotic in many ways.
Thanks for bringing it up. BTW, I didn't know there was such a thing as a journal software program. Part of me likes writing by hand in a nice book, but the truth is, I write faster and more effeciently on the computer. Can you tell me what are some options for journal programs? I suppose I can simply start a document, but it sounds like you have a program that allows you to track your mood, etc, too.
Robin, I will take a look at the material at your website, too, thanks.
Posted by Rhainy on August 19, 2000, at 14:35:56
In reply to Re: Keeping a Journal (long)Short Now, posted by Noa on August 19, 2000, at 12:17:41
> Thanks for bringing it up. BTW, I didn't know there was such a thing as a journal software program. Part of me likes writing by hand in a nice book, but the truth is, I write faster and more effeciently on the computer. Can you tell me what are some options for journal programs? I suppose I can simply start a document, but it sounds like you have a program that allows you to track your mood, etc, too.
I can relate to the *Quick* aspect....I try to avoid anything that makes me work too hard or long....SighOk the program is called *Smart Diary* and it is basically a simple journal program in which you tic off a pic of your mood before you start writing. The program will track your input and then you can look at a graph and or print it out.
http://members.xoom.com/volodomd/ ( You will have to copy and paste the link)
I try to use it every day but often times forget as a way of not exploring my feelings,
If the website above does not work, I think I got it at either Downloads.com or ZDNet.com It is a freeware program and not very big.
I looked at the webdite Robyn posted and found things to help as well.BLessings,
Rhainy
Posted by allisonm on August 19, 2000, at 19:19:13
In reply to Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 10:05:20
Hi Rhainy,
I've kept a journal now for close to three years. I find I write in it especially when I am feeling bad. I try to write down what's happening in my life, what's bothering me, and how I feel. Over time I hope to see a pattern. Right now, there seems to be a seasonal pattern that I think has more to do with annual events than weather.I also find my journal helpful because I can look back a year ago and see what I was doing, ie it helps me remember when things happened.
I also find it invaluable in conjuction with my psychotherapy. I bring it with me to each session because I also record my dreams in it. I can look at the dreams and look back at what was happening, which might give some more insight. It also helps my doctor and me keep track of how I was at certain times of the year. I can look back and say "oh, yea, April was bad. From what I can tell, it was the beginning of a big slide and I was suicidal by June, but that started right after you took me off the lithium and then you put me on the Wellbutrin." He'll look back in his records too, and we can piece things together.
Likewise, I also write down what my psychiatrist and I talk about and my thoughts after the sessions. I can look back and see where a train of thought started and I can track my progress. I also use it to write myself notes about thoughts or points that I want to make in my next session so that I don't forget - being in session can be intense and I am apt to forget things I wanted to bring up.
The only problem seems to be that when I'm feeling good, I forget or haven't bothered to do entries. Thus, I have a gap of several months in 1999 that I cannot account for and wish I could because obviously I'd like to get back to that point again.
Best wishes,
allison
Posted by Noa on August 19, 2000, at 19:47:32
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by allisonm on August 19, 2000, at 19:19:13
Thanks, Rhainny, for the info. After you down load the program, it is offline, right? ie, you don't need the internet to use it. I will try to download it at some point soon to see what it is like.
After you record, can you print it out, because I tend to like hard copy for reading better than the screen. Does a print out show the mood thing?
Thanks.
Allison, I admire how ambitious and thorough you are about your journal. But I understand about stopping when you are feeling better, but wishing for some insight into how your mind works when you are feeling better. That is where you therapist can help, I think, by reminding you how you how you think and talk during the better times.
Posted by Rhainy on August 19, 2000, at 23:22:34
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Noa on August 19, 2000, at 19:47:32
As far as I understand, tho I have not done so myself, you can print it all out to take along or whatever. And yes it is an offline thingy, you do not have to be on the net to use it.
BLessings,
Rhainy
Posted by allisonm on August 20, 2000, at 21:37:54
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Noa on August 19, 2000, at 19:47:32
> >But I understand about stopping when you are feeling better, but wishing for some insight into how your mind works when you are feeling better. That is where you therapist can help, I think, by reminding you how you how you think and talk during the better times.
Noa,
Good point. Thanks!
Allison
Posted by Jena Lyn on August 21, 2000, at 20:38:43
In reply to Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 10:05:20
hi guys ... Im new ... but yeah, Ive been keeping a journal for years and it helps me SOOO much. Ive had a rough few years and Ive grown through my journals if that makes any sense. It seems like the times when I don't want to write are the times when I write the most. It just comes...just start writing whatever comes to mind no matter how silly it seems...you'll work through the clutter and end up writing about things you didn't even know were bothering you. At least thats how I am =) I hope you ALL keep journals, mine has helped me more than all my therapy/medication/and everything else all together....sunshine...hugs...and smiles...
Jena Lyn
Posted by emily on August 22, 2000, at 16:15:39
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Jena Lyn on August 21, 2000, at 20:38:49
I agree--keeping journals is really helpful! Sometimes I try to buy big notebooks with beautiful pictures to help with motivation. Also, lately I've been drawing because I've felt stuck with words. It's amazing how I have been able to express anger through some of the drawings. I think it helped to release urges towards self-harm...
--Emily
Posted by Phil on August 23, 2000, at 22:00:57
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by emily on August 22, 2000, at 16:15:39
http://www.pathfinder.com/drweil/qa_answer/0,3189,1881,00.html
Journal info.
Posted by noa on August 24, 2000, at 10:54:28
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Phil on August 23, 2000, at 22:00:57
Rhainny, Phil, et al,
this seems like it has the makings of a new psycho-babble-tips folder of links---resources regarding journals, etc.
Posted by Phil on August 24, 2000, at 12:47:54
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by noa on August 24, 2000, at 10:54:28
> Rhainny, Phil, et al,
>
> this seems like it has the makings of a new psycho-babble-tips folder of links---resources regarding journals, etc.
---------
Good idea Noa.
Posted by Oddzilla on August 24, 2000, at 21:20:23
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Phil on August 24, 2000, at 12:47:54
I would recommend Ira Pogroff's Intensive Journal process. It's very creative and kind of Jungian but well worth the effort. There is a paberback version of the book At a Journal Workshop which is relatively inexpensive. There are workshops held across the country but the technique and guidelines are in the paperback. There are suggested meditations before the writings, etc. It's something that can continue through a lifetime. Here is a website
http://www.intensivejournal.org/
Good luck. Thanks for the inspiration to get back to journaling!
Oddzilla
Posted by Jena Lyn on August 13, 2001, at 22:50:01
In reply to Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Rhainy on August 17, 2000, at 10:05:20
Rhainy...my journal is my sanity. I have kept one for years and it is a great source of strength to me. I find that on my bad days I don't want to write either, so I just write "bad day dont feel like getting into it" or something like that, jsut so that I write and maybe a few days later Ill be able to write about what was bothering me. Even if there is nothing to write about, write that, I find that helps with getting into the habit of writing. I hope that helps!!!
Jena> Well, here I am again...seems to me I have jumped in whole heartedly to both boards...< Smiles >
>
> A question...Does anyone else use a Journal? I have a small but helpful journal program on my computer which also tracks my moods. I thought at first Oh Yeah just what I need something else to do...but I have been fairly good at posting at least a sentence and loggin my mood for the day or night, whenever I am writing.
>
> I was wondering if anyone else uses a journal to track how they are doing and if there are any ideas on how to get oneself to write more often? I seem to skip when I have a Really Bad day...which throws the results off in the emotional log of course...
>
> Blessings,
> Rhainy
Posted by sar on August 14, 2001, at 2:09:34
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Jena Lyn on August 13, 2001, at 22:50:01
i find it's best that i don't keep a journal. otherwise i get winedrunk and waste alot of time sitting back writing about depressing things. i'm generally happier when not writing.
i did buy a beatutiful italian-velvet book to write my dreams in tho, when i remember them (50% of the time, i guess). they are much more striking than anything i could think up while conscious.
sar
Posted by paxvox on August 14, 2001, at 16:00:16
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Jena Lyn on August 13, 2001, at 22:50:01
I go to a Christian counselor as well as my Pdoc, as I don't generally like pyschotherapy, and my Pdoc doesn't either (smile). Anywho, the counselor suggested I journal at night to "close the book" as it were on today's issues (so I don't lay awake worrying about them). Seems to make sense, so I plan on doing so.
Pax
Posted by susan C on August 16, 2001, at 20:19:48
In reply to Re: Depression and Keeping a Journal, posted by Phil on August 23, 2000, at 22:00:57
Thanks. I have been looking for something like this. Now, whether or not I can write in russian...lol. Thanks for the help.
Susan C
> http://www.pathfinder.com/drweil/qa_answer/0,3189,1881,00.html
>
> Journal info.
This is the end of the thread.
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