Journal

Ahhh, journaling! It’s been a long time since I’ve journaled but it’s something I’ve done all my life. It’s so therapeutic for me to write down all the things that go through my mind when I’m anxious and read back over it. Writing it down helps me to see where the anxiety started and my thought patterns.

A long time ago when I went to counseling, one of the people I saw helped me to make sense of the anxious thoughts I had by giving me worksheets that had spaces listed for the inciting thought- or what the anxious thought was, the worst case scenario my brain was throwing at me, a possible outcome to that worse case scenario, a more rational and probable outcome, and a possible outcome to that more rational and probable outcome.

Let me tell you! Writing all of that out every time I had an anxious thought helped me so much! And I even got to the point where I didn’t have to use the worksheet anymore and could do it all in my head.

However, it’s been a long time since I’ve used those worksheets. Instead, I’ve learned to do it all in my head and I still journal out my thoughts, which helps a lot because by writing them down I can do the whole worksheet process in my head still. Not just that but looking back through old journal entries helps me to recognize patterns in my anxious thinking and I can see how much progress I’ve made with my anxiety.

It also helps me to put into words the thoughts and feelings that I sometimes get all jumbled up in my head. It’s easier to deal with anxiety if I have a clear vision of what exactly is making me anxious so I can find realistic steps to solving those anxious thoughts. 🙂