A Daily Journal as a Tool for the Depressive

Some physicians suggest keeping a journal will help the depressive. This is an interesting if somewhat complicated suggestion but it can have some positive results especially for someone who has been newly diagnosed as a depressive. This is because if new medications are being tried a daily journal can reflect the patient's impressions of how things went. An entry a day can give impressions of side effects or if the person feels better, or worse, with the mediation they are trying. Since a prescription may be given for a two week period so that the health care provider can get a good idea is something works or not, a journal can tell the doctor a lot more detail than a person's memory might be able to. As so often these medications take time to adjust to and too often it takes several tries to get the right one or combination, this daily journal will continue to be useful to the health care provider to see how the prescriptions work until they finally find one that is a good match for the patient.

But that is not the only way a daily journal may prove useful to someone suffering from a depressive episode. It may also be used as a device to work through some of the feelings that a person is going through. Even patents that go to regular counseling sessions are not always comfortable telling their psychiatrist everything that is going on in their lives. This is especially true when they first meet their new doctor. For many people trust must build before they will open up completely. The journal allows the thoughts and frustrations that remained unspoken to have an outlet.

This also goes for those depressives who attend group sessions. Groups are great because they allow a person to see that they are not alone with the daily fights to cope that they must deal with. Knowing that there are others out there just like themselves is a confidence builder. It makes the patient feel less alone, less like an oddball. Even if the people in the groups do not become friends, and they usually they do not, they are a peer group that can offer a unique feeling of understanding and compassion. But, again, the average person needs time to get comfortable with these new people in their lives. They need time to know that talking about personal issues and fears will, be received without condemnation or ridicule. Again the journal is a good outlet until the group starts to feel like a comfortable place to be.

The journal can serve other purposes. It may be a useful tool for the depressive to look back on. If their medication and therapy mean that they're coping better and dealing with life's challenges more easily it can still be useful to understand the things they have coped with previously especially if they have another bad episode. Or for some coming through a bad episode may mean burning the journal accompanied by a feeling of triumph!