Post #6: Journaling for Wisdom to Self-Heal Chronic Pain & Other Neuroplastic Symptoms

6 minute read

Why journal?

Journaling is a useful way to delve into the subconscious mind. The conscious mind is the forefront of superficial thoughts and emotions, while the subconscious mind stores deeper memories and emotions that may manifest as neuroplastic bodily symptoms. Wisdom comes from introspection.

In It’s Not Always Depression: Working the Change Triangle to Listen to the Body, Discover Core Emotions, and Connect to Your Authentic Self, Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW, explains that uncovering core emotions, such as fear, anger, sadness, or disgust, in regards to life experiences can relieve bodily symptoms. Even excitement and joy may be repressed by inhibitory emotions of shame, guilt, anxiety, or depression. Hendel’s “Change Triangle” is a way of visualizing the connection between these 1) core emotions, 2) inhibitory emotions, and 3) defense mechanisms like intellectualization, perfectionism, humor, or distraction. Once you identify and express previously ignored core emotions, you may uncover your genuine self which is calm, curious, connected, compassionate, confident, clear, and courageous.

8  barriers to journaling and solutions to get started

The following journaling suggestions are adapted from Dr. Howard Schubiner’s Unlearn Your Pain and Unlearn Your Anxiety & Depression workbooks.

1.       Lack of time:

Start by journaling for just a couple minutes a day and work up to 20 minutes a day. Set a timer and make it habit.

2.       Perfectionism:

Embrace messiness! You can journal in a simple notebook or even on scratch paper; it does not have to be fancy. Disregard spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Be uncensored; don’t be afraid to use expletives! And I don’t mean the soft ones, like frick, fudge, or doh!

3.       Pain or weakness in fingers, wrist, and arms with writing:

Consider audio journaling. Speak into a recording app on your phone, for instance.

4.       Emotions seem too sentimental:

As Hendel says, emotions are universal. Expressing them safely can relinquish your symptoms.

5.       Not wanting to blame:

Sometimes the blame we avoid acknowledging is on ourselves. No matter the recipient, blame is not a useful activity, but identifying the underlying emotions is. Resentment is more toxic to you than the person you resent. Forgiveness releases toxic emotions held inside. You can forgive without even telling the person or entity you have forgiven them. Forgiveness is about letting go of emotional pain, even if what happened wasn’t justified or right.

6.       Not wanting to face your subconscious:

Start small. Journaling is not about reliving an experience; rather, it’s about re-living it, doing it over in your mind with empowerment or safety signals and then letting the difficult emotions go. Crumple up your paper, throw it safely in a fire, or rip it up with dramatic effect.

7.       Fear of someone reading your journal:

Symbolically destroying your writing will also prevent anyone from finding it. 

8.       Lack of a clear goal:

Use prompts below. Write with free association and stream of consciousness. Keep your hand moving to get past intellectual thoughts to deeper emotions.

10 types of prompts to journal on

1.       Current life stressors:  Remember to get at the emotions underlying these stressors. Identify connections between symptom fluctuations, life circumstances, and emotions.

3.       Unsent letters:

·       Letter to an institution or person – Tell off your boss, friend, family member, school, or clinic for how they treated you.

·       Letter to God, the Universe, or a higher power - express anger for your problems or sadness for your loss.

·       Letter to your symptoms – Tell the symptoms you are in charge now and that you won’t let them continue.

·       Letter to your younger self – Tell your younger self they faced challenges as best they could; provide your younger self safety signals.

·       Letter to an aspect of your personality – Tell your perfectionism it no longer has to dot every i or cross every t. Tell your shyness that the world is ready to hear from you. Give permission to the giver and do-gooder inside you to prioritize yourself now.

4.       Dialogues:

·       Create a made-up dialogue with a person or entity you feel wronged by. Your imaginary recipient may forgive you or may accept your forgiveness. Or they may finally say they loved you. You write both sides to find the healing you need.

5.       Lists:

·       List of your defense mechanisms - Identify coping styles you use to avoid emotions. Do you intellectualize and put everything into a thought perspective rather than emotion? Do you laugh a frustration off and repress genuine emotion? Do you go flat and uncommunicative? Do you change the subject or try to distract yourself?

·       Personality traits - Identify self-negating aspects of your personality that get in the way of truly caring for yourself or expressing yourself, such as: perfectionism, shyness, over-caring for others, self-consciousness, excessively following rules, worrying, or poor self-esteem. Consider why you might have developed those traits and resolve to diminish their power over you.

·       List of boundaries you’ll start setting – Is it that you will confront your sister about her belittling comments? Or that you will no longer stand for the treatment your son has been giving you? This practice will help you keep these boundaries in real life.

·       List of barriers to getting better - No one wants their symptoms and no is to blame for them. Yet, it can be useful to identify subconscious ways your symptoms help you avoid work, a difficult person, family functions, or social obligations; or how symptoms gain sympathy, continue a lawsuit, or justify years lost.

6.       Core Issues / The Past:

·       Stressful or traumatic events in childhood – Again, the goal is to identify repressed emotions, not just to relive the experience. Consider challenges that might include caring for or death of a loved one, having your own significant illness or injury, bullying, parental divorce, household substance abuse, an incarcerated family member, sexual or physical abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, financial instability, natural catastrophe, immigration, or military combat. If you knew a child was going through the same things you did as a kid, how would that make you feel?

·       Your parents / guardians – Was their love conditional? Were they controlling? Distant? Strict? What challenges in their childhoods may have shaped their personalities?

·       Your siblings - How did these relationships affect you? Or were you an only child?

·       Your core issues or “baggage” - Did the loss of your mother make you cling to relationships? Since caring for your disabled sibling as a kid, do you over-care for others?

7.       Belief in the neuroplastic model:

·       Create an evidence sheet to support how your symptoms are brain-related and recoverable. What doesn’t make sense in terms of the biomedical approach toward your symptoms? Are your symptoms inconsistent? Have traditional treatments not helped? Do your symptoms have unusual triggers?

8.       Reframe beliefs:

·       Consciously reframing negative thoughts and emotions heals symptoms. Change, “I will always be in pain” to “I can self-heal my pain.” Or “I hate myself” to “I love myself.” De-identify as a victim and de-identify from your symptoms. Thoughts create reality.

9.       Gratitude and what brings you joy:

·       Log at least one item of thankfulness or joy a day. This creates positive neural connections for healing.

10.  Manifest your future:

·       Write what you’ve learned about yourself and the lifestyle changes you intend to make. Will you begin saying “no” more or start a new hobby or meditation?

·       Write as The New You - How will you respond to current life challenges, like a problematic relationship or job?

4 sage journaling tips:

1.       Keep your journal hidden. Don’t allow for any possibility that someone could access your journal. You will be more freely expressive and avoid inciting relationship troubles.

2.       Remember to journal on the connection between events, emotions, and symptoms. Don’t simply state thoughts, review events, or log symptom severity and intensity, which increase fear.

3.       Let your thoughts and emotions spill out. There is no, “I’m bad at journaling.” As Yoda says, “You must unlearn what you have learned…Do or do not. There is no try.”

4.       Know that it can take time for symptoms to resolve with the help of journaling. Have outcome independence; it’s about the journey and not the destination. Over time, these activities may provide your wisdom to heal.

Journaling Music: Peaceful, Inspiring, Relaxing by Ana Juma

Rachel Hollander journaling with her wise companion, Charlie.