Audio Journaling for managing OCD symptoms: How can it work for you?
Journaling is encouraged within the health and wellness space as a way of expressing ourselves without judgement or consequence. Our journals are just for us. Expressing thoughts and emotions can help us to rationalise them and gain a more in-depth understanding of our approach to certain situations.
When it comes to mental health management, journaling is a very popular tool. For people with anxiety, for example, journaling has been shown to rationalise fears. Expressing our worries and concerns can help us understand them in a different way.
If you’ve ever had anxiety, you may relate to the feeling of expressing what’s making you upset, and suddenly realising that it doesn’t really make sense… for example:
“I’m feeling super anxious, I just had to leave in the middle of a meeting to go to the bathroom… my boss is going to fire me!”
This made total sense in my mind, but when I said it out loud, I realised how irrational I was being!
Once we’re able to express our anxieties, we will quickly find that a lot of what we’re worried about doesn’t actually make a whole lot of sense. This is why talking with a therapist about mental health can be so beneficial, as saying things out loud instantly eases anxiety for many.
Journaling can also be a great tool to help us track our feelings and emotions. We can track moments in the day where we may be feeling great, or maybe feeling a bit low. From there, we can think about how we can change our situation to avoid/cultivate these feelings and emotions.
But what about journaling for OCD?
When it comes to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), one of the most successful forms of treatment worldwide is CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). Alongside therapy treatment, there are many other tools that can be used to manage OCD symptoms, and journaling is one of them!
Caution!
Audio journalists suffering from OCD should adopt rules for their daily journaling practice. Typical behaviour associated with OCD can be triggered by recalling previous events from the day.
If someone with OCD managed to ignore one of their anxiety soothing behaviours (awesome job by the way!), then later, they can recall and document this in their journal. This is potentially triggering, as it may cause the OCD sufferer to feel the compulsion to act on the behaviour that they originally suppressed. We’re all different, so try to identify potential triggers to avoid them.
OCD sufferers should use journaling mostly for tracking feelings and emotions, rather than recalling events and listing tasks.
Why audio journal for OCD management?
Tracking feelings and emotions as an OCD sufferer can be SUPER helpful to find patterns in triggers. If we’re able to identify moments in the day where we’re feeling particularly anxious, or when we are feeling at ease, we’ll be able to start working towards limiting/encouraging those moments. How can we generate that feeling of ease elsewhere in the day? How can we adapt what was happening when we were feeling anxious to avoid this trigger in the future?
Audio Journaling vs Written Journaling
OCD sufferers who are successfully using written journaling as a tool to manage symptoms are likely already undergoing treatment and are successfully managing triggers. People at the start of their OCD treatment, depending on the severity of their disorder, may find journaling too triggering, as they have not yet developed the skills to manage symptoms on their own.
Journalling and audio journaling are tools that can be most effective with OCD sufferers who are already undergoing treatment and who are able to identify when they are feeling triggered.
For some OCD sufferers, writing is a trigger. If things aren’t written perfectly, or if the handwriting is a bit messy, this can trigger symmetry and ordering behaviours. This is why audio journaling can be an awesome method to use over written journaling!
Audio journaling eliminates writing triggers; using voice recording and transcripts to document feelings and emotions throughout the day. There’s no need to write anything down or to re-record if you stumble over your words. This practice is for you and no one else.
No perfectionism allowed!
Journaling for people with OCD needs to be viewed and treated as a space free from perfectionism. If OCD sufferers can adopt this attitude towards their journaling practice, they’ll be good to go!
‘If I can offer a bit of unsolicited advice: if you’re a perfectionist, try as hard as you can to allow your journal to be something that isn’t perfect (whatever that means to you). This is also hard, but better than letting journaling become a mechanism of your OCD.’ - Reddit user with OCD from OCD and Journaling thread.
If you’re at your worst or your OCD symptoms are currently not being managed, journaling is something you should wait to do until you’re able to approach the practice without a perfectionist's eye. If you’ve tried written journaling and found it too triggering, audio journaling may be the solution for you.
Another Reddit user with OCD has this advice regarding journaling: ‘I don’t journal about compulsions or specify anything when I do because I find it extremely triggering. I just keep it extremely general and wholeheartedly avoid chronicling my day, because then it gets really difficult not to become extremely rigid. One of my compulsions is to-do lists, so all to-do lists are banned. I try to keep my journal very minimal and avoid art spreads because I get really obsessive. And I’m not allowed to tear out pages/cover things up etc’
The same goes with audio journaling. Try to identify any triggers that may pop up while journaling and come up with your own journaling-rules. Maybe you decide it’s sensible to only allow yourself a certain amount of time to journal. Maybe it’s best for you to avoid certain topics. Figure out how journaling can best serve you as an OCD symptom management tool, without allowing journaling to become a trigger.
Another Reddit user suggests that journaling serves as a distraction for them from their compulsions and obsessions, saying ‘Journaling can be a great way to distract yourself (honestly, distraction is a powerful tool)!’.
Give it a go and recognise when to adapt the practice
Audio journaling compared to traditional journaling eliminates a lot of potential triggers for people with OCD. We’re all different and have a variety of triggers, so be sure to identify your potential triggers before jumping into the practice to come up with your own journaling guidelines! Adapt your guidelines as you practice, recognising triggers and ensuring your guidelines eradicate them.
About the author:
Gabie Lazareff is a certified health coach, yoga teacher and freelance nutrition & wellness writer. After years of navigating the messy waters of mental health, her mission is to share her experiences and advice with others.
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