Journaling for Stress Relief and Five Prompts to Try 

By: Delilah De Kay, MSW Intern Therapist 

Created: February 13, 2025

Published: February 17, 2025

Stress is a universal experience, something that every person has felt in some form at one point or another.

According to Ninivaggi (2020), stress can be defined as “a state of threatened homeostasis challenging physiological and emotional stability…objectively real and a perceived state, it involves feeling vulnerable, fearful, and sensing dread.” Although stress is also an important evolutionary response to real or perceived threats to our individual survival, “intense, frequent, and prolonged adversity causes toxic stress”, which can have a range of troubling impacts on the body (Ninivaggi, 2020). Research (Yaribeygi et. al., 2017) indicates that chronic stress can cause changes in the brain, in ways that manifest as behavioral, cognitive, and mood disorders, suppress the immune system, negatively impact the cardiovascular system, cause gastrointestinal complications, and contribute to endocrine dysfunction. It would not be an exaggeration to say that stress impacts almost every major body system, and can have devastating consequences on the body when left untreated and unmanaged.

Journaling is one effective way people can reduce their stress levels. Its accessibility and simplicity make it an appealing option for many, as it requires minimal resources and can be done anytime, anywhere. This easy-to-adopt practice offers a valuable outlet for expressing emotions, reflecting on experiences, and gaining clarity, all of which contribute to stress relief. Multiple studies have demonstrated journal writing’s ability to greatly reduce depressive symptoms among many different populations, including college students, survivors of intimate partner violence, individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and individuals diagnosed with PTSD (Gortner et. al. 2006; Krpan et. al., 2013; Koopman et. al., 2005; Pennebaker, 1997; Smyth et. al. 2018). In journaling, an individual is free to write about whatever they choose, without judgment from others or themselves. Journaling is a reflective practice of bringing your internal thoughts and feelings to the forefront. You can either write freely about anything that comes to mind, or you can use a more guided approach, such as keeping a gratitude journal to write about things you are grateful for, keeping a dream journal where you record past dreams, or a self-love journal where you might write positive affirmations or write about your strengths.

Below are five different journal prompts that you can try if you want to try journaling, but are not sure what to write about: 

1. What were the highs and lows of my day/week? 

2. What is something I am proud of myself for doing? 

3. What are three things I have learned about myself, someone else, or life recently? 4. What is something I miss about being a child? What is something I don’t miss?

5. What is the last dream I remember having? What did it feel like to wake up from this dream? 

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References: 

Gortner, E.-M., Rude, S. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2006). Benefits of Expressive Writing in Lowering Rumination and Depressive Symptoms. Behavior Therapy, 37(3), 292–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2006.01.004 

Koopman, C., Ismailji, T., Holmes, D., Classen, C. C., Palesh, O., & Wales, T. (2005). The Effects of Expressive Writing on Pain, Depression and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Health Psychology, 10(2), 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105305049769 

Krpan, K. M., Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Deldin, P. J., Askren, M. K., & Jonides, J. (2013). An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Journal of affective disorders, 150(3), 1148–1151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.065 

Ninivaggi, F. J. (2020). Learned Mindfulness—An Emotional Intelligence Perspective. Elsevier EBooks, 73–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-816484-6.00004-x 

Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science, 8(3), 162–166. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00403.x 

Smyth, J. M., Johnson, J. A., Auer, B. J., Lehman, E., Talamo, G., & Sciamanna, C. N. (2018). Online Positive Affect Journaling in the Improvement of Mental Distress and Well-Being in General Medical Patients With Elevated Anxiety Symptoms: A Preliminary

Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mental health, 5(4), e11290. 

https://doi.org/10.2196/11290 

Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI journal, 16, 1057–1072. 

https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480 

Zhang, D., Lee, E. K. P., Mak, E. C. W., Ho, C. Y., & Wong, S. Y. S. (2021). Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review. British medical bulletin, 138(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldab005

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