Photo Credits: https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/journaling By: Caroline Chittum How many times during the day does your stress level reach “freak out” mode? Do ever feel overwhelmed to point where your brain feels foggy? Do ever feel weighed down by negative thoughts? The answer to these problems may be journaling. Expressing our emotions is the key to many people’s anxiety and stresses in life. When we keep our feelings inside, we are setting ourselves up for disaster: an explosion caused by avoiding powerful emotions can erupt in a blink of an eye. It is natural to want to avoid uncomfortable and traumatic emotions, but we must train ourselves to get in the habit of expressing them. When we experience a traumatic events in our lives, our brains are overwhelmed with the demanding task of processing the incident. Because our minds are already preoccupied with comprehending this event, any extra stress we experience may send us over the edge. This means our health is in jeopardy. For example, sleeping patterns will be disrupted and resulting in chronic tiredness and a lack of motivation. Everyone is different, and therefore everyone needs a form of healthy stress relief that works with their lifestyle. Journaling may be something to try. Journaling has been called the cornerstone of the wellness movement. Doctors and therapists have noted the countless health benefits that correspond with regularly practicing journaling. Their patient's well-being showed signs of turning around for the better by just writing. How is this simple exercise so influential? Studies have provided evidence that supports the idea that journaling can be a remedy for modern day ailments. It has the power to heal both mental and physical illness by simply giving our brain room to breath. Improved memory, increased mindfulness, and better the person’s communication skills are a few of journaling side effects. Journaling has also been linked to a higher IQ, a better immune system, and boosted confidence. A study that was conducted in New Zealand tested and supported the theory that writing about our emotions can actually help physical wounds heal faster. A social psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin named Dr. James W. Pennebaker has done extensive work on studying the effects of “writing therapy”. Dr. Pennebaker said, “It’s a whole cascade of things that occur”, regarding this form of therapy. When we use this form of mental organization our working memory is exercised and therefore will improve; this causes our brains to be less overwhelmed with processing certain traumatic events and thus our sleep patterns will also improve. Dr. Pennebaker’s landmark study on journaling (1988) was documented in his book, “Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotion”. The controlled clinical study consisted of students that were selected at random and asked to write for fours days in a row about traumatic experiences, negative emotions, or anything on their minds that they felt they needed to express. After six weeks of practicing journaling, the students reported to be in a much better mood and had less illnesses overall than before the study. Dr. Pennebaker’s book dives into the science behind why and how our bodies respond to this release of emotion. His research exposed the truths about the mind-body connection and that buried trauma is detrimental to our immune system. Julia Cameron, author of “The Artist’s Way”, is another expert and believer in journaling as a way of mental and physical healing. Her ideas are more spiritual and geared to the creative aspect of journaling, but it is all based on the same founding scientific ideas that Dr. Pennebaker discovered in his study. She encourages people who are starting journaling for the first time to think of it as a “brain drain”. Journaling does not have to have a set topic and there is absolutely no rules. It doesn’t even have to resemble writing; it could simple be a few words on a page. The bottom line is that journaling can transform your health. Cameron suggests that one should start journaling first thing in the morning.There is a 45 minute window in the morning before our ego’s defenses kick in, so finding that sweet spot is the perfect time to start getting out emotions on paper. Also, don’t feel pressured to write with a pencil and paper. Dr. Pennebaker says that any format for writing, whether it be on a laptop or on a phone, will produce the same results. The goal is not ruminate. The soul purpose of journaling is to express our feelings and to relieve our minds of traumatic experiences that bring about stress. So, the next time that you feel overwhelmed by a painful emotion, instead of staying silent, try to just writing it. Citation: Phelan, H. (2018, October 25). What's All This About Journaling? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/style/journaling-benefits.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Psychology and Psychologists&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/style/journaling-benefits.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FPsychology%20and%20Psychologists&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection
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By Lee Federle Everyone knows that it’s nice to get compliments. What’s less known is that research has proven that positive feedback decreases stress, encourages better habits, and can help you accomplish more. In fact, compliments are so beneficial that a lot of companies use praise to boost revenue. This helps keep their employees motivated and happy and encourages them to continue putting in their best effort. Receiving compliments can even help your brain remember and repeat new skills.
Even though compliments are good for us, a lot of us struggle to accept them. We don’t want to come off as arrogant, so most people tend to brush them off. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you try to debunk the compliments you receive by disagreeing with them or undermining them, you are reinforcing the part of your brain that focuses on your mistakes (fun fact: our brains naturally focus on our failures because in the past the humans who worried more were more likely to survive). Instead, you should accept the compliment and try your best to believe it— this can be as easy as saying ‘thank you’ or asking a follow-up question— as this will result in all the positive benefits for your brain that I wrote about above. So now we know that receiving compliments from others is valuable, but what about giving yourself compliments? It may sound weird, but acknowledging your own achievements can actually be even better for your brain than receiving praise from someone else. Studies have shown that small setbacks have negative impacts three to four times higher than the positive impacts of small accomplishments. This means that it is crucial to highlight our accomplishments as much as possible, as our brains clearly need all the encouragement they can get. It’s also important to understand that ‘accomplishments’ don’t need to be big. Whether it’s about school, work, or personal life, congratulating yourself on getting small things done is a great way to keep yourself motivated and continuing to achieve. Another way to reinforce the positive side of your brain is to keep a daily list of your accomplishments. Again, you’re probably not accomplishing huge feats every day— your daily list will most likely include things like finally cleaning your room or emailing that teacher that you’ve been meaning to talk to. No matter how small the achievement, giving yourself credit for these things doesn’t just help your mood and productivity, but also can come in handy in situations where we’re asked to list accomplishments, like job interviews or college applications (again, our brains focus on our mistakes and tend to forget our accomplishments, so writing them down is a good idea). Lists are also beneficial because you can look for patterns in them to figure out where to put your time and energy. Finally, it’s a good idea to get comfortable talking about our accomplishments with other people without feeling cocky or boastful. This could mean taking time once and a while to talk to a friend, parent or teacher about something you recently accomplished. Being able to confidently talk about successes is a good skill to have when it comes to things like job interviews, where you are often asked to discuss your achievements. Talking about successes as well as failures can also make you better at receiving constructive criticism. In conclusion, accepting compliments, whether they’re from peers, family, teachers, or even ourselves, is something we could all work on. It improves mood, motivation, and productivity, and helps us know that we’re on the right track with what we’re doing. Now that you know how valuable receiving compliments is, hopefully you’ll consider giving more compliments in the future too— you never know when someone might need that extra boost! Higgs, M. M. (2018, December 04). How to Accept a Compliment - Even if It's From Yourself. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/smarter-living/how-to-accept-a-compliment.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Psychology and Psychologists&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.teamworkandleadership.com/2017/07/the-power-of-compliments-4-tips-for-leaders-and-teammates-great-video.html By Jack Vigue Compliments are stressful. Many of us feel awkward when we accept compliments because we don’t know what to say. We tend to deflect compliments at times because we don’t want to come off as arrogant to others. It is difficult for many people to accept compliments due to the internalized fear of boasting; this leads to the common tendency to explain away compliments. However, compliments, even from yourself, are beneficial. Acknowledging wins, even small ones, can boost motivation and mood. Positive feedback can decrease stress and better someone’s working habits. Research suggests that praise boosts motivation and improves memory for new skills. Receiving compliments and getting credit for a job well done is highly rewarding; this helps the brain accomplish more. As people stress over what to say when someone gives a compliment, keep it simple; an easy response is “thank you”. Yet, it is okay to not always receive a compliment from someone; self-recognition is still important. The feeling one has after completing a project brings great elation and happiness. To improve motivation, productivity, creativity, and mood, create a list of accomplishments rather than a to-do list. Keeping track of achievements are very helpful in our personal lives; for example, during future rough patches, we can go back to see what we can accomplish. It is also extremely important to record positive achievements because our brain tends to disregard them. Receiving compliments are important for our well being and being able to accept them is beneficial to our mood. Studies show that meaningful praise is advantageous; it helps the brain’s ability to remember and repeat new skills. However, research also shows that we tend to dwell on negativity and failures compared to positivity and accomplishments. Dr. Amabile studies the impact of daily events on one’s productivity and inner work life. They found that the small moments of progress were the most impactful in our lives. Dr. Amabile’s team also found that personal satisfaction had a stronger impact that external praise; this is if employees felt like the compliments they received didn’t connect with the work they valued. Dr. Chris Cascio, a journalism professor, studied participants and their reactions towards meaningful things. Dr. Cascio found that when participants subconsciously cared about something and then were shown messages encouraging new exercise habits had areas in their brain light up that are connected with reward and self-motivation. The area in the brain associated with reward is our dopamine pathways. Specifically, the VTA (ventral tegmental area) which is one of the principle dopamine-producing areas in the brain. Dopamine is mainly involved with our happiness. These experiments show that praise and compliments are beneficial in both our personal lives and in the workplace. Many different factors can be stressful in live: school, work, family, etc. However, this study of using compliments and praise to boost positivity is extremely helpful in life. Praising people after small or large accomplishments lead to better lives all around. This study depicts how to be comfortable with accepting compliments. Many of us are stressed about being too arrogant, but knowing how to accept a compliment can relieve a lot of stress and even promote positivity. The studies also describe how to boost motivation by being able to talk with those close to you about your accomplishments. This could mean talking with your family or friends weekly about what progress you made for that week; this can help with being comfortable about accepting praise without boasting. The ability to talk with others like teachers, family, and friends about your accomplishments with ease is beneficial. By being able to do this, interviews will be much easier because you are able to talk about your accomplishments without feeling stressed out. Also, these studies show that in the result, people who easily accept praise by others and themselves are more susceptible to being able to apprehend criticism in a constructive way. We all deserve compliments, and we all need to be able to accept them from friends, family, teachers, co-workers, and ourselves. This will benefit our lives by boosting mood, motivation, positivity, and productivity. Compliments and praise also help us keep moving forward in our lives rather than stepping back. Consider the positive effects compliments have, and take that into account the next time someone gives you a compliment. When you say “hey” to someone in the hall, give them a compliment; it will brighten their day. Learn to accept compliments, even from yourself, because you deserve them. Articles Used: (NYT article)
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Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
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