How to Cope with Grief: Journal Writing

Managing grief after a loved one has died can be difficult, but there are plenty of healthy coping mechanisms you can use to help navigate you through your grieving process. 

Over a series of blogs titled ‘How to cope with Grief’, we will be exploring a range of helpful ways you can process your own experience of grief and keep your loved one’s memory alive.

In this blog, we will explore the benefits of journal writing for mental health and the grieving process.

What are the benefits of journal writing for grief?

Journaling has been proven to have positive impacts on both the psychological, and physical effects of grief. Benefits include:

Mental clarity

Grief can be a very overwhelming time, and you may feel flooded with thoughts and emotions that you are unable to process.

Journal writing is an inherently therapeutic way to organise and mediate these thoughts, express yourself, and deal with your emotions in a more positive, healthy way. Putting thoughts and feelings into concrete words has been proven to reduce stress, and alleviate the mental effects of grief by providing a safe space for you to de-clutter your mind.

Keeping their memory alive

When grieving, you may be deeply missing the person who has passed away, or worried about forgetting precious memories you shared with them.

Journaling is a perfect way to preserve fond memories of someone who has died. Writing down special memories can be a comforting process, helping you feel more connected to them, and providing you with a memory log to look back on in times you are especially missing them.

Reminds you of how far you have come

Grieving can be a long journey and when you’re in the middle of it, it can be hard to see the better times that lay ahead. 

Keeping a journal throughout your grieving process is a wonderful way to track your progress and look back at how far you have come in terms of your mental health and outlook since your bereavement.

Can encourage conversations with others

Talking about death and grief can be a tender topic of conversation for many. When you are grieving, you may initially feel too uncomfortable talking to others as you find it brings up difficult emotions, or you feel like a burden.

When dealing with these feelings, it can be beneficial to write down your thoughts as a way of ‘sharing’ how you feel. This private act of ‘talking’ to a journal can prepare you for uncomfortable conversations with others after the death of a loved one and can make you feel more comfortable with reaching out for support or a chat.

Journal writing for grief: Getting started

There’s no right or wrong way to write a journal. Journal writing is about finding comfort and respite during your grieving process. Everyone’s experience with grief is different, how you choose to journal is personal to you. 

Some people like to handwrite their thoughts on paper, others prefer to type their thoughts up in a document or on a phone. Whichever is easiest for you is best. 

Once you have decided how you want to keep your journal, you can begin writing in it. Remember there are no limits on what you can write or put in this journal, you may even wish to draw or add photographs in it, and this is totally fine. You can choose to write in it every day, or just when you have a thought or emotion that you want to log.

The best thing to do when journal writing for grief is to be honest and open with your feelings when you write. Being honest will help you really benefit from this process.

Need further advice on coping with grief or want to know more about direct cremations?

We hope this article has helped you with ways to cope with your grief, but if you need any further advice on this topic, or are looking to arrange a direct cremation, get in touch with our expert team today. We’re available 24/7, whenever you need us and more than happy to help.