This month we’re going to be exploring anxiety. It’s a rare person who doesn’t struggle with anxiety, at least some of the time…whether that’s nerves before giving a presentation at work, to worry about how the pandemic might affect you, to waking up in the middle of the night thinking about choices your kids are making, to barely controlled fear about people judging you, to unexplained panic attacks.
This doesn’t fall under the realm of journaling, but I just want to put it out there: therapeutically, you can’t beat exposure when dealing with anxiety. Exposure means deliberately facing the things you are afraid of and allowing yourself to experience the anxiety so that your brain and body learn that the feelings are uncomfortable but not dangerous. If you’re looking for a resource on how you can work exposure into your life and recover from anxiety disorders, I recommend Drew Linsalata, who runs a Facebook group, has a podcast, and wrote a book called The Anxious Truth.
Having put out there that there’s no substitute for facing down your fears, there’s a lot journaling can do for anxiety. Journaling can help you:
Become more aware of your triggers
Take a more mindful stance toward your anxiety
Discover the core beliefs that are driving your fears
Reality check your anxieties
Become more aware of the thoughts that show up for you when you are anxious
Figure out what you are really afraid of
Identify what the fearful part of you needs
Take an honest look about what parts of your life anxiety controls
Notice what you need to surrender and accept
Come to terms with uncertainty and vulnerability
Pay attention to what you are missing out on through avoidance.
This month we’ll be exploring some of these things with the goal of gaining insight that will lead to change. I hope you’ll let me know how it’s going for you!