4 Ways to Journal for Anxiety

Why this resource is helpful:

"Do you have a lot on your mind that is making you feel stressed or anxious lately? Instead of letting these overwhelming thoughts and emotions ruminate, we can write them down to process them better and work through our anxiety. Journaling can bring us a lot of clarity. And it"s easy to pick up. It gives us a private space to unwind from the day and express how we truly feel.
There is no right or wrong way to journal. However, sometimes it can be helpful to see a few different types of prompts to help us get started. Verywell Mind has some helpful tips for this type of journaling. Here are a few ways that you can try journaling for your anxiety:
Write Down All Your Worries
Give yourself 5-15 minutes to write about anything and everything that is on your mind. This can be a stream of consciousness of whatever you may be currently worried or anxious about. Anxiety is all about being concerned about what could happen, so it can help to go over all of the details about what is causing these feelings.
Re-think the Possibilities
We can also work to question our anxious thoughts and consider the possibility that the outcomes we worry about are not absolute. Ask yourself things like:
Could things be different?
How likely is it that this will happen? How do I know?
If what I fear does occur, could it be less of a negative experience than I think it would be? Could it be neutral or even positive in any way?
Is there a way I could use my circumstances to create a better outcome? Could I use what I have available to make the best of the potential changes?
Challenging our thoughts can help us relieve anxiety because it allows us to realize that the things we worry about are less likely to happen than we think. Or they may be less bad than we initially think.
Recall Your Strengths
Take a moment to think about all of the challenges that you"ve already overcome. How did some of your strengths come into play to help you get through it? Consider the many strengths you already have that make you resilient. It can help to write them down and envision how you can use these strengths to persevere through your current anxieties.
Create a Plan
If you"re assuming your worst fear does happen, what would you do? Who would you lean on and what resources would you use to get through it? The unknown will likely seem a lot less scary when we feel like we"ll be prepared and able to cope."

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