MIXED EVIDENCE
Write about feelings
Early studies were striking; larger reviews found smaller effects. Fifteen minutes is a fair trial.
See both reviews
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
Write it down.
Let it settle.
A notebook will not fix everything. It may help more than you expect.
Psychologists have tested journaling for decades: writing about hard feelings, naming emotions, listing good things, even pen versus keyboard. Some results are promising, some are mixed. Here is what they found, in plain English.
Plain English, with the sources linked.
15 MIN is plenty
Compare journal styles- Name the feeling
- List good things
- Keep it short
- Pen, paper, a quiet moment
THE SHORT ANSWER
Short, honest, regular.
The studies used short sessions,
and the effects are real but modest.
PROMISING
List what went well
A weekly list of five good things left students more optimistic than listing hassles.
How to start one
LAB FINDINGS
Words and the pen
Naming a feeling quietened an alarm area of the brain, and handwriting lit up more connections than typing.
Read the facts
START TONIGHT
Four ways to
keep a journal going.
Set a short timer
Fifteen minutes is about the length used in many studies. A short session is easier to repeat than a long one.
Put a name to it
Write the feeling as a word: worried, cross, relieved. Naming it is the part the brain-scan study tested.
List up to five good things
A few times a week, write down up to five things you feel grateful for. Write them, do not just think them.
Pick a regular time
Daily or every other day both work. A set time, such as after dinner, makes the habit easier to keep.
TWO REVIEWS WORTH KNOWING
Promising,
then debated.
The same writing task, pooled twice,
gave two different pictures.
d = 0.47
13 studies pooled
Writing about deep thoughts and feelings led to better reported physical health, psychological well-being, physiological functioning and general functioning in healthy people. Health behaviours did not change.
SMYTH · 1998
g = 0.04
30 randomised trials pooled
A later and larger review found no significant effect on physical or psychological health overall, and concluded that expressive writing has "minor or no effects", contrary to earlier findings.
MOGK AND COLLEAGUES · 2006
An effect size near 0.5 is moderate; one near zero means little measurable difference. Different studies, people and outcome measures explain part of the gap.
JOURNAL STYLES COMPARED
What does the evidence
say about yours?
Pick the kind of journaling you do, or want to try. Each answer sums up the study linked in the sources below.
A lab finding shows an effect under controlled conditions. It does not prove that a journal at home will do the same.
FIVE FACTS
What the studies
actually did.
It began with one simple task
The expressive writing task was developed by psychologist James Pennebaker in the 1980s: write about your deepest thoughts and feelings about a difficult experience.
Sessions were short
In the 13 studies pooled in 1998, people wrote for 15 to 30 minutes, between one and five times, spread over one to 28 days.
Naming a feeling calms an alarm
In a 2007 UCLA scan study of 30 adults, choosing a word such as "angry" for a face reduced amygdala activity. Choosing a name such as "Harry" did not.
Five good things a week
In Emmons and McCullough's 2003 experiments, students kept a weekly report of five things they were grateful for, and felt more optimistic and exercised more than those who listed hassles.
The pen uses more of the brain
A 2024 study recorded 36 students with a 256-sensor EEG cap. Writing words by hand produced wider connectivity across the brain than typing them.
QUICK QUESTIONS
Journaling, answered.
Short answers to the questions people ask most.
Does keeping a journal improve your health?
The evidence is mixed. A 1998 review of 13 expressive writing studies found better reported health and well-being, with an average effect size of 0.47. A 2006 review of 30 trials found minor or no effects on health.
How long should I write each time?
Studies of expressive writing used short sessions, usually 15 to 30 minutes, run between one and five times. The UC Berkeley gratitude journal practice suggests about 15 minutes a session.
What should I write in a gratitude journal?
The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley suggests writing down up to five things you feel grateful for, at least three times a week for at least two weeks, and actually writing them rather than only thinking them.
Is it better to journal by hand or on a device?
A 2024 study of 36 students found wider brain connectivity when they wrote words by hand than when they typed them. It measured brain activity during writing, not the benefits of journaling, so use whatever you will keep doing.
Why might writing down feelings help?
One explanation comes from a 2007 UCLA study: putting a feeling into words reduced activity in the amygdala, a brain area involved in emotional responses. It is one lab finding, not the whole story.
Sources
- Written emotional expression: effect sizes and outcome types (Smyth)Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1998
- Health effects of expressive writing: a meta-analysis (Mogk et al.)GMS Psycho-Social-Medicine, 2006
- Putting feelings into words produces therapeutic effects in the brainUCLA Health, 2007
- Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity (Van der Meer and Van der Weel)Frontiers in Psychology, 2024
- Gratitude journal: how to do it and why it worksGreater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley
- Counting blessings: the Emmons and McCullough gratitude studiesThe Washington Post, 2003
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