Journaling
Anxiety and Depression are common among undergraduate and graduate students. There is a high amount of pressure to perform. Many students struggle to balance school with work, their social life and, for some, a family life. Visual journaling can be a helpful tool that is a convenient and individualized way to relieve some of that anxiety/depression.
What is Visual Journaling?
Visual Journaling is a type of art therapy that involves a visual expression of an individual’s inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
Benefits for Students with Anxiety and/or Depression:
Journaling or Visual Journaling can benefit those with anxiety and depression. Switching our minds to creation instead of stimulation and constant integration of environmental information allows for freedom to express or acknowledge emotions that get overrun by anxiety and depression (Morris, 2014). This provides relief. Studies have found that visual journaling for student anxiety is a promising intervention (Mercer, Watson & Zhang, 2010). All of the students who participated in the study said that they would utilize this therapy to aid in relief from school-related anxiety and/or depression.
Types of Visual Journaling:
Coloring workbooks: many bookstore and online stores sell beautiful coloring books.
Journaling: writing down what is bothering you can help you identify anxiety triggers. This awareness may help decrease the anxiety. Journaling prior to an exam has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms.
3. Doodling your notes: if a school subject itself is providing the anxiety, you can make it fun by doodling images of the concepts in the side margins. Doodling notes is also correlated with a higher engagement and retention of the material (Andrade, 2010).
STUDENT TIP!
Here is an example from a biochemistry student’s doodle notes. Simply doodling the name of a daunting subject can decrease anxiety as you study.
Additional Resources for College Students
