Here’s How to Use Expressive Writing for Depression

Writing prompts to help you explore your depression gently

I believe in using expressive writing to help manage anxiety and depression.

Over the last ten years, expressive writing has helped me explore my mental health. It has also been something that has helped in my recovery, in addition to counselling, medication and implementing some well-needed changes in my life.

What Is Expressive Writing?

Expressive writing is a tool for self-reflection. It’s also a way to explore how you feel using the written form. Furthermore, it can be a great way to get those thoughts out of your head, and it can be a simple way to express yourself:

…the process of putting your thoughts, feelings and experiences into words. Expressive Writing is what you are doing when you write in a journal or a diary, although don’t let that limit you.
James W. Pennebaker

Much of the work on expressive writing has been led by James Pennebaker, a Psychology professor at the University of Texas. In the 1980s, Pennebaker discovered that writing about life’s stresses helped people heal from physical and emotional ailments.

In one of Pennebaker’s experiments, college students were asked to write for 15 minutes daily about an important personal issue or superficial topic. Afterwards, the students who wrote about personal issues had fewer illnesses and visits to the student health centre.

The benefits of expressive writing

Expressive writing has been found to result in numerous physical and psychological improvements, including but nowhere least:

Improved memory
Decreased blood pressure
Improved immunity
Decreases stress and depressive symptoms
Greater psychological wellbeing

Writing has been one of the main tools in my arsenal that has helped me manage a lifetime of anxiety, deal with grief, work through various stressors in life, and recover from my depression.

Not only that, but it has helped me gain clarity in life through a lot of self-reflection. As a result, it led me to change careers in my mid-30s to one where writing became central to my work.

Tips to help you explore your mental health using expressive writing

Exploring your mental health through writing can be cathartic. However, it can also be emotionally challenging and mentally draining. So, as you explore your depression through expressive writing, do so slowly, gently, and with support, if you need it.

Here are some tips to consider before you start using expressive writing to explore your mental health:

Start slowly
Write when you feel ready
Write when you have the time. Otherwise, free up some time, so you don’t feel pressured
Write continuously for an allotted timeframe, i.e. 2 or 20 minutes
Be gentle with yourself and tune out your inner critic
Don’t censor yourself
Beware of trigger points. If anything feels too much to write about, stop and try something different
Don’t worry about perfection – grammar, spelling, structure. Throw it all out the door and write how you feel, even if it seems like nonsense
Keep it personal and keep it for your eyes only
If you feel like sharing, do so only when ready and with your trusted network
Know when to stop and walk away
Expect to feel wiped out after writing. All going well you will feel a bit better after a few hours
Writing does not replace therapy. It compliments it when done gently. Write when you have your support structures in place

Writing prompts

I love writing prompts as they help when my mind is full of thoughts racing around and around. And then there are the times I suffer from writer’s block (which is a lot!).

So, here are 14 writing prompts to help you to get started with expressive writing:

What is motivating you to write to ease your depression?
Take a deep breath and close your eyes for 10 seconds. Tune in to how you are feeling, both physically and mentally. Write down what you are experiencing
What does your depression look like? Using descriptive words to describe its shape, size, colour, smell, etc. Is it a black dog, a dark cloud, thick fog, a shadow or a veil? How does it act? What does it say?
Write about the person/s who have helped you most in life
How does your depression make you feel?
Write about something you are thinking or worrying about
Make a list of the people in your life who support you and who you trust. This will be a great guide in future
What do you wish others knew about you and your depression?
Write the words you need to hear
What do you do to take care of yourself? To practice self-care? If you don’t do anything, what could you do?
What is one thing that helps you manage your depression?
Write a gratitude list. Here’s an example of one I wrote.
Have you ever been treated differently or felt stigmatised regarding your depression? What happened? How did this make you feel?
What memory do you cherish the most?

It’s important to stress that expressive writing should never replace therapy but rather complement it. If you find you are struggling, please see your GP or reach out and talk to someone.