Does Journaling actually make a difference, or is it overhyped?

Expressive-writing and journaling interventions — writing about a stressful or traumatic experience for a set period, following the classic Pennebaker paradigm — have been tested in numerous randomized controlled trials, and the accumulated evidence has not shown the general health benefit the practice is often assumed to have. Weighing the data: Journaling looks an early-stage, lower-priority area for now — the evidence is only moderate (50/100), and its estimated impact (30/100) is on the lower end too.