A Beginner’s Guide to Journaling for Anxiety & Depression

I don’t know about you, but when I’m anxious or depressed, it really helps if I get my thoughts down on paper. Left alone, these thoughts take on a life of their own, fluttering around my brain like a swarm of butterflies or ending up in a tangled mess like the cables in my ‘man drawer’. 

I need to take the time to unpick them, to get them in some sort of order so I can see what on earth is going on ‘under the hood’. Because, guess what, thoughts aren’t facts; once they’re on paper, it’s much easier to pull out my magnifying glass and start analyzing. Is this really something to be anxious about? Do I know for a fact that that is the case?  

Working through a systematic questioning process, such as the one suggested below, also helps me identify what action I can take to halt the rumination. Would it help if I spent 30 minutes preparing for the interview, if I called a friend for reassurance, if I wrote a to-do list? 

You might also consider going one step further, making this questioning process part of your daily routine by taking up journaling. This can be a hugely valuable tool in helping us track our symptoms, recognize our triggers and identify negative thought or behavior patterns. It’s all insight, and every new insight is invaluable in shaping our personal growth.

If you’re new to journaling, though, it can be hard to know where to begin. The following is a simple practice that you can work through to start untangling those anxious or depressive thoughts – and take action so you feel more in control.

1. Date your page
This helps you keep track of your symptoms and identify any patterns around certain times. Is your anxiety heightened by PMS, for example? Does depression hit harder in the evenings or weekends? Knowing when your symptoms are worse means you can put extra measures in place to help yourself during those times.

On the flip side, dating your journal also helps you identify times when your feelings of anxiety or depression were reduced. Think, what was different during those times? What were you doing then that you aren’t doing now, and that may have helped?

2. Write down where you are right now
What room are you in? What city? Who is there with you? Identifying these things helps bring you into the present moment and starts to focus your mind on the task at hand.

3. What are you feeling today? 
Label your emotion with an adjective: I am sad, excited, happy, grateful, anxious, depressed. Underline or circle the adjectives. It can be hard at first to identify feelings, but the more you practice, the more in tune with them you will become. By circling the adjectives, we can track our feelings at a glance. 

4. Why are you feeling this way? 
What has happened today that has made you feel this way? Example: “I am anxious because my partner shouted at me.”

5. How did it make you feel?
This is where we start ‘peeling the onion’, as they say, digging deeper to see where our emotions stem from. Example: “When people shout at me, it makes me feel unloved and unsafe.” “My dad used to shout at me.” 

6. Find an action item 
To end journaling on a positive note, we take action; it gives us a sense of control over our emotions and can even change the course of our mood. What small thing can you do today to change the path of a negative emotion? What have you tried before that helped ease this feeling?

Example: “I will meditate and comfort my inner child. I will reassure her that she is loved and safe and that the anxiety is arising because of things that happened in the past. I am not in danger. My partner is not my father. He loves me and was just frustrated because he was running late. I will talk to my partner later about how shouting triggers these feelings for me.”

If you are journaling on a good day, remember that this is equally valuable. Note what it is that has contributed to this positive feeling, and ask yourself: what can I do to encourage this positive emotion? 

For more information or assistance with anxiety or depression, join the conversation in our online mental health community.