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[Hedley]

• How important is writing in combatting depression? It can be cathartic.

[tyme]

Hey @Hedley ,

Thank you for asking.

I guess people are all different in how they respond to depression. Whilst writing can be incredibly helpful for some, it may exacerbate things for others.

From my own experiences, being able to share on an open forum like this has been incredibly powerful in my recovery. I felt this was a safe space to share elements of my mental health journey. I felt I could share without judgment and criticism. And yes, I had crippling anxiety, depression and insomnia.

In the past, I used a journal, and I lived in anxiety that someone would find the journal and read it. Hence the anxiety outweighed the benefits of journalling. So even now, journalling doesn't work for me, but writing on an anonymous forum like this has been very helpful. 

Hence why I'm still here today!

What do you think? Do you find writing helpful for yourself?

[MJG017]

I've heard quite a few people suggesting writing your feelings down can be extremely helpful.  Even if you just write them down and never show it to anyone.  I think it's probably a way of getting them out of your head and seeing them in a different way allowing you to begin to think about things differently.

But I find writing using forums like this, extremely helpful.  It find it takes a lot of the mental strain off me just to get my thoughts out of my head and share them with other people.  I struggle to do that face to face so by doing it in writing it allows me to be a lot more open and honest.