Journaling: The viral TikTok trend that’s transforming Gen Z’s mental health

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in young people taking up journaling, as of 2025, TikTok has become a vibrant hub for aspiring writers, with over 1.6M posts under ‘journaling’ and 80k posts under ‘journalinspiration’. This is partially thanks to the rise of trends such as ‘junk journaling’ and ‘bullet journaling’ which has taken the community by storm.

Mental health benefits

There are numerous mental health benefits to regular journaling, such as stress reduction, emotional growth and improved mood.

“Journaling is the act of keeping a record of your personal thoughts, feelings and insights it’s no wonder that journaling is beneficial for your mental health.”, they explain.

“Your journal is entirely private to you, providing a safe space to process emotions and challenge your negative thoughts, as a result this can offload stress and promote more emotional clarity. A common belief that many people like to follow is that getting your thoughts out of your head and onto paper means you can continue your day without carrying these stresses around with you. Written thoughts can also help you visualise your problems and create a more logical thought process to tackle them with solutions.”

Regular journalling can contribute to overall happiness, as they say, “Using your journal as an opportunity to express gratitude or focusing on positive everyday experiences, you can boost your overall happiness, helping to shape a better outlook on life.”

Physical health benefits

While journaling is celebrated for its mental health advantages, it also offers surprising physical health benefits.

“You may not think of putting pen to paper as being a particularly strenuous activity, but journaling can have tremendous benefits for your physical health.”

“In recent years, there have been numerous studies that support the claim journaling helps lower blood pressure, because of its stress-related benefits.”

“Additionally, there is also evidence that supports the claim journaling helps with sleep, as it calms the mind and prepares the body for rest. Sleep consistency reportedly increases from 70% to 72% on nights when people report journaling.[3]”, they conclude.

Strengthening relationships

Beyond mental and physical health benefits, journaling can be a significant tool or self-reflection and fostering emotional awareness.

“One of the best parts of journaling is to be able to reflect and look back at previous entries, whether it was from a bad day last week, or a fun filled holiday the previous year, journals allow you to reflect.”

“As a result, journaling allows you to think about your emotions, which leads to enhanced personal interactions. This is particularly good if you have fallen out or argued with a loved one recently, writing down how you feel will allow you to reflect in the future, when you might be feeling more level headed.”

“Alongside emotional reflection, you can also practice gratitude. Expressing appreciation in your journal can positively influence the relationship you have with others. Often throughout our days we focus on the pitfalls and negatives that might have happened but taking the time to positively reflect on the good parts of our days, and lives, leaves us with a more positive outlook on life.”

Productivity and goal setting

Journaling serves as a powerful tool for enhancing productivity by providing a structured space to articulate and refine goals, prioritise daily tasks, and track long-term progress.

“Journaling doesn’t just have to be about your own mental and physical wellbeing, it can also be about self-discipline and accountability. Around 88% of people who journal cited “staying focused” as a noticeable benefit, compared to only 52% of non-journalers who believed it would be beneficial.[4]”

“It is proven that writing down specific, actionable goals increases the likelihood of accomplishing them, which is great for new year’s resolutions or vision boards. Among Gen Z, bullet journalling has been particularly popular as it combines creativity with organisation, helping track tasks and deadlines. Bullet journals are completely customisable depending on your lifestyle. The system organises scheduling, reminders, to-do lists and brainstorming into a single notebook,” Martin concluded.

Boost Creativity

Journaling has long been credited as being a creative outlet for people to experiment with their passions

“One of the best benefits to journaling, is that nobody is watching. This is a time when you can let your creative freedom run wild without any fear of backlash or criticism. Whether it be wanting to practice song writing, poetry or even drawing, your journal should be a place where you can let your mind run completely wild.”

“This is especially true so anyone who works in a traditionally ‘corporate’ and feels like they need an ‘outlet’ for their creativity, in your journal, nobody can judge you.”

Beginners guide to journaling

Martin has included a list of the top five tips someone looking to get into journaling should consider, and what to do when you open on the first journal page.

1. Choose a journal you truly love

2. Find a regular time to journal

3. Start with small journal entries

4. Use journal prompts

5. Use journal templates

These short tips are key to making sure that anyone looking to get into journaling is set up for the most productive start.

For more information please visit; https://www.thortful.com/blog/how-to-bullet-journal/