Is Keeping A Journal Really A Good Form Of Therapy? Especially For Depressed Teens?

I keep a daily journal not only on my thoughts and ideas but also I use this for my daily activities on my pain level through out the day.  I have chronic pain in my lower back so I write everything down on what I do everyday and when I go to my drs. App once a month we go over everything that I do.  This also helps when I do get depressed when I am in a lot pain and I have to use pain meds just to combat those days.  So yes keeping a daily journal is a great way of getting to know yourself and helping yourself to get better.

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If they are depressed they should be seeing a licensed clinical social worker. It depends on if there therapist thinks it is helping. My therapist told me when I was trying to help someone who was suicidal that even she was not an expert. If someone really wants to commit suicide you may not be able to stop them. I think if a teen is pretty young their parents should be able to look at their journal and have conversations about their feelings. I went to a suicide support group where the parents wished they had read their son's journal. He had it all planned out. Maybe they could or could not have stopped him. All I know is that they were hurting so badly they could hardly speak. I hope this answer helps someone. Peace

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A journal can be part of good therapy for capturing feelings and exploring ones thoughts at any age and whether one is depressed or not.  And especially in teenage years or at times when one feels isolated or unable to share experiences, journaling can help express the seemingly inexpressible.  there are many good tools for journeying which can lead to healing and self discovery, and provide an outlet for otherwise unexpressed emotion.  I highly recommend it. 
(However do remember that depressed is a clinical term, and this should be diagnosed by a professional.  If the journal does not bring relief, one should seek a professional who can assist in healing.)

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You don't have to be depressed to keep a journal.  I think it is therapeutic for any reason.  My grandmother who is 80 has been keeping journals since she was 14 years old and continues to do so.  She won't let us read any of them though. She decided to start passing them down starting with her first one with her first child and their family when she passes away.  I think it will be very interesting when it is my turn to read them.

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A journal can be good for people that feel like they need to talk to someone but are embarrassed about who they could talk to. So they use a journal to kind of clean up their thoughts and get them off their chest. In other words, it is a way to get rid of things that are worrying you.
 
If you're depressed you should probably be seeing a councillor(sorry unsure of spelling, comment my answer if I'm wrong) or something regularly so you can talk to them with out feeling embarrassed and closed up. Also, councillors will not criticize your explanations as to why you're feeling depressed.
 
I hope this helps. Keep it in mind.
 
Supahstah

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Yes i know this for a fact when my parents got a divorce and my dad treated me like crap and i was really depressed and having a hard time my councilor told me to keep a dairy and it helped so much it was a easy way to vent and to get how you feel on paper helps a lot maybe for some it doesn't help but for it did

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It does help some days to keep a journal. Especially when you have drs., appt.

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