The Journaling Method That Eased Depression Symptoms Months Later
Journaling gets recommended for just about everything these days. Feeling stressed? Journal. Feeling overwhelmed? Journal. Trying to process a breakup, a career change, or a rough week? You guessed it: journal.
But if you've ever opened a notebook and immediately thought, Okay... now what?, you're definitely not alone.
A new study1 found that one specific type of journaling helped young adults with depression feel better even two months later. The participants weren't writing gratitude lists or recapping their day. Instead, they spent two weeks looking back at different chapters of their lives and asking a simple question: How did I become the person I am today?
There's something powerful about connecting the dots between your past, your present, and the future you're working toward. This study suggests that process may help people feel more grounded in their own story.
Researchers asked participants to tell the story of themselves
The study included 111 adults between 18 and 29 years old who were experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of depression. Half of the participants were assigned to a control group and completed simple writing exercises about everyday activities, like going to the grocery store. The other half completed a very different kind of journaling.
Over the course of two weeks, they responded to five prompts, each focused on a different stage of life: early childhood, middle school, high school, where they are today, and the person they hope to become. Along the way, they reflected on what mattered to them during each chapter, what shaped them, and how each version of themselves connected to the next. They also chose a single word to describe themselves during each stage.
Researchers checked in during the program, two weeks after it ended, and again two months later.
What made the biggest difference
Two months after the journaling program ended, the participants who reflected on their life story reported fewer symptoms of depression than those in the control group.
They also felt more connected to their past selves and less "derailed," a term psychologists use to describe the feeling that you've somehow become disconnected from the person you thought you were going to be.
One of the most interesting parts of the study came when researchers looked back through the journals themselves.
The people who benefited most didn't pretend everything in their past was positive. Instead, they were able to step back and ask questions like, What did I learn from this? How did this change me? They found moments of growth alongside the difficult ones.
Others approached the writing differently. Their entries were more likely to stay focused on painful experiences without moving beyond them.
That highlights an important distinction. Reflecting on your life isn't the same thing as getting stuck replaying it. One helps you make sense of your experiences. The other can leave you feeling trapped in them.
It's also worth remembering that this wasn't a replacement for therapy or other mental health treatment. It was a brief journaling exercise that appeared to work well as a complement, not a substitute.
The five journaling prompts you can try
If you'd like to try this approach yourself, here are simplified versions of the prompts researchers used:
- Who were you as a young child? What excited you, and what word best describes that version of you?
- What shaped you during middle school?
- What experiences from high school or another important chapter still influence you today?
- Who are you right now? What values or goals matter most?
- Who do you hope to become, and how does that future version connect to every version of you that came before?
The takeaway
We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what's next. This study suggests there may also be value in looking back.
Not to relive old mistakes or rewrite the past, but to notice the thread connecting the different versions of yourself. Seeing how you've grown, what you've carried with you, and what still matters may help you feel more rooted in who you are today.