Journaling Through Divorce
There are a lot of bad feelings that surface during and after divorce. It is necessary to get these unpleasant emotions out through a healthy outlet, and replace them with more positive ones. Keeping a journal and regularly expressing your thoughts and feelings is one method for doing just that. When you do it properly, you'll see the rewards.
BENEFITS OF JOURNALING TO HELP WITH DIVORCE ANXIETY
Read on to learn why keeping a journal during your divorce is so helpful to your emotional health. Start today.
Your brain believes whatever you tell it
Writing reinforces it. Repetition makes it stronger. Putting thoughts and ideas down on paper establishes a robust mental commitment pattern. Re-discovering and re-reading it in earlier similar entry types of cement it. Remember that your brain does not differentiate between positive and bad ideas and behaviors. Sure, vent your frustrations on paper, but write some positive things too!
Journaling helps you to relax
Your brain craves routine and rewards you for the effort by relaxing. Your brain, the command center above your head, constantly monitors your everyday routine in search of habits and routines. Again, a red indicator is that it doesn't favor either healthy or bad practices, making it challenging to break harmful ones. Divorce can disrupt the status quo. Journaling daily at the same time can help you overcome this problem. You'll start looking forward to it after a few days because your brain will be relieved to have something consistent. You'll relax during journal time. You can bank on just one little thing happening every time: reduced nervousness and restored rationality.
Let go of the things
You'll recognize the ideas and patterns you want to keep using and those you can drop. Journaling helps you see the pathways you want to go again and those with "Danger! Do not retrace these steps!" You can intentionally work with the activities that aided you and avoid the trap of terrible choices you made previously.
When you can't speak
A final piece of advice for those times when words fail you we've all been there. The experts advise us to practice writing the word "writing" repeatedly. It makes no difference if any thoughts enter your mind at all. There will be more fruitful days ahead to make up for this one. The idea is to assure your brain that your new routine will persist no matter its challenges.
Express your feelings
Be free. Say anything, except “SHOULD”. No one will read this but you. It's OK to say the things you're not allowed to tell anyone. Good penmanship and proper grammar don’t count. You really might not feel like writing on some days. Maybe you want to sketch instead.
SUMMARY
Truth be told. No matter how peaceful or destructive your divorce is, it is still tricky. It's natural to have a wide range of feelings during the divorce process. Recovering from a divorce more quickly can be achieved by practicing self-care and developing a strong sense of independence. Divorce is stressful, but keeping a journal can help.
Click on this link to get your free online “Growth Planner and Journal.” It helps you with exercises to help you emotionally navigate divorce and a planner to help you organize to reduce anxiety and overwhelm. Do not wait until tomorrow morning to begin. The sooner you do, the sooner you will notice that your anxiety levels have decreased.
Legal Analysis
The key is just doing your journaling under the attorney's direction in order to protect it under attorney client privilege. If you don't journal as directed then it may become discoverable by the other party and attorney.
Conclusion
Isn't it a shame that in order to find mental peace you have to be concerned about the legal ramifications? No wonder lawsuits and the law are so stressful. Repeatedly I have told my clients to get counseling to document the mental impact the legal situation has had on them, but I will not get my own counseling.
When I do depositions or question witnesses one of the common questions asked is "Have you been through counseling, rehab, or therapy?" Mental health records can be discovered and used against you in a Court of Law. Attorneys know this and no matter how much mental help they may need or the bar "suggest" they get - they are not going to expose themselves to unnecessary liability.
That explains why:
8.5% of lawyers reported suicidal thoughts, compared to 4.2% of the U.S. population age 18 and over.
More than 30% of lawyers experience depression, with many citing billable hour pressure, sleep deprivation, and client demands as contributing to their deteriorating mental health.
36% of attorneys struggling with alcohol abuse.
While this issue isn’t as common as alcohol addiction, 9% of attorneys have been found to struggle with prescription drug abuse on a regular basis.
Finally, 21 percent of lawyers that said they had used drugs in the previous year.
Truthfully if you need help - go get it. If you need to journal - as your attorney I direct you to do that for your case. If you are an attorney, stop asking questions that stop people from recovering and if you need a Law Firm to walk you through your legal case or divorce, please let us know at 843-357-9301.
May God Bless You, Your Business, and this Country,
Tom Winslow
Beverly Price