Writing a diary: For mental health
interview
Therapeutic tool:Diaries help with mental health
Writing a diary is often laughed at. Andrea Heine explains why diaries help with mental health. And has ideas on how to start writing a diary.
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Many people laugh at it: the diary. But for many people it still has a special value today. Psychologist Andrea Heine explains why.
Andrea Heine: I would answer yes, especially when you think about the topic of resilience. Resilience is psychological resilience. One of the topics here is self-efficacy – that is, that I have the confidence to do things and that I tend to be more positive. It definitely helps to adopt this positive outlook. You should sit down every evening for a while and write down one or two things that have gone well. Simply changing this outlook also contributes to a change in attitude.
You learn to deal with crises and situations that you cannot really change
Andrea Heine, psychologist
Source: Andrea Heine
… freelance psychologist and business economist. Her main areas of focus are emergency psychology and crisis intervention; stress management, resilience and burnout prevention; healthy leadership; conflict management and communication; risk assessment of psychological stress in accordance with §5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
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ZDF today: Can writing diaries also have negative consequences?
Heine: That can happen too. That’s why my favorite is the “success diary.” So you consciously tell yourself that you’re only going to write down the positive things.
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ZDF today: Does it depend on the person whether writing diaries helps with mental health problems or not?
Heine: Let me put it this way: you have to get involved. If I have the attitude from the start that it’s nonsense anyway, then it won’t achieve anything. But if I’m positive about it, it can lead to a change in attitude in the medium term.
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ZDF today: What else should you pay attention to when writing a diary?
Heine: There are actually no rules. In principle, you shouldn’t overextend yourself. For example, you could limit yourself to writing down just three points.
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ZDF today: What should the routine look like: every day or every week?
Heine: It makes sense to do this every day for a while. At some point you might realize that you don’t need it anymore.
I recommend writing down three positive things every day.
Andrea Heine, psychologist
ZDF today: Have you already had personal experiences with patients?
Heine: My experience has been really good, but you need consistency. So you should be patient with yourself. There is no exact rule as to how long it should be. Everyone has to judge that for themselves.
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story
ZDF today: These “success diaries” are a relatively simple approach. Can anyone just try them out?
Heine: Absolutely. It’s possible simply because it’s so easy. Anyone can do it and nothing gets broken. That’s what I always tell my customers: buy yourself a nice notebook that you really enjoy writing in.
It’s just fun to see how the notebook fills up.
Andrea Heine, psychologist
The interview was conducted by Josua Schwarz. It was first published on January 14, 2023.
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