How to Use Journaling to Combat Extreme Anxiety?

Journaling for anxiety is not a new technique. Studies have shown that journaling can help to ease emotional tension and make one feel calmer and more confident.

If you’ve never done journaling before, learn that it is a very simple technique consisting of writing down your thoughts for the day.

Journaling has the power of putting you in touch with how you feel, which can ease the burden of anxiety. Not knowing how you feel is a common trait of those suffering from anxiety. It’s possible that, as a child, you didn’t learn how to identify your feelings and preferred to stuff everything down, from anger to excitement and joy.

As an adult, this coping strategy doesn’t work anymore. You stuffing your feelings now can push people away. Which will hurt your relationships.

That’s why journaling for anxiety helps a lot. By writing down your thoughts, you become more present in your body. More aware of your emotional world. Which, in time, will help ease your anxiety.

Science agrees with that. A 2018 study had 70 subjects suffering from anxiety complete a 12-week program of daily journaling. At the end of the program, their anxiety was significantly decreased and it was reported that they felt more confident.

Here are some tips on using journaling to ease your distress.

Buy a notebook that you will use for journaling purposes

Try to use this notebook only for this practice as this will help you be more organised.

Find a time in your day when you can write down your thoughts

Make sure there’s no one around who can disturb you. Maybe do this after work, or in the morning, when you’ll have more quiet time.

Use journaling prompts

Journaling prompts are great ways to get started with the practice of journaling. Here are some journaling prompts that I think might help you:

1. How was your day? What were the highlights? What didn’t go well?

2. Write about the worst-case scenario for something you’re worried about. Journaling about what could go wrong in a situation can make you realize that many of your anxieties are exaggerated.

3. Take 15 minutes to write about the things you like about yourself.

4. Write for 15 minutes what makes you angry. How does anger make you feel? What are the physical sensations that you experience when you get angry?

5. Write for 15 minutes what makes you sad. How does sadness make you feel? What are the physical sensations that you experience when you feel sad?

6. Write a list of pros and cons for a difficult decision you need to make.

7. What’s a good experience you had in the last 2 weeks? Write about it.

8 What about a bad experience? What was it like? Write about it.

9. What are the things you’ve accomplished in the last 2-3 months?

Even if it’s about going to sleep earlier or taking all your vitamins for the day, write it down. Small accomplishments often feel better than big ones because you know it will be easy to repeat them. (they often give you a confidence boost)

10. Take 15 minutes to write about a person who hurt you. What is it about that relationship that makes you feel uncomfortable?

These are some journaling prompts you can try. You can add your prompts or find more online.

Conclusion

All in all, journaling helps your anxiety in the sense that it makes you feel calmer and more confident. It will put you in touch with your inner world, which is great because those suffering from anxiety are afraid of their emotions.

By writing down your most intimate thoughts and feelings, you can let go of the mental tension because you can take distance from it.

However, you need to be consistent with this practice and not expect great results in a short amount of time.

Author’s bio

Marlena Bontas is a freelance writer with a passion for health, technology and mental wellness. She has an MA in Psychology from the University of Helsinki and is currently travelling. Write her on Twitter at @MarlenaEeva.

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