Here’s How Journaling Can Help You Cope With Anxiety
Journaling can help you become aware of how you're feeling, bring to light the problems eating away at you, and also give you a creative space to work through your overwhelm in a positive, uplifting way.
By 
Matt Wilks
Most people are familiar with the concept of journaling. However, the true power of journaling requires you to create a routine of it in order to utilize its ability to combat your daily stress and anxiety. I used to suffer from immense anxiety and journaling has truly helped me mitigate its damaging effects. While I still do have anxiety (and you’ll never officially get rid of it for good, unfortunately), journaling can foster greater self-compassion and love for yourself when life gets overwhelming, stressful, or difficult. Here are four reasons why journaling will save your life from anxiety.
1. It helps you control your mood and keep your emotions at bay.
When we’re feeling overwhelmed with life, it’s incredibly easy to begin focusing on our problems and what’s wrong in our lives. Journaling can help you become aware of how you’re feeling, bring to light the problems eating away at you, and also give you a creative space to work through your overwhelm in a positive, uplifting way. With that being said, being alone with just your thoughts and emotions is an incredible way to see them differently than you may have before.
2. It brings to light your strengths.
Focusing on what’s great in your life is an amazing way to bring more great things into it. When we journal, we also have the opportunity to recognize all of the amazing qualities we’ve developed in ourselves over the years. It gives us the chance to see how far we’ve come, and in turn, fosters greater self-compassion and appreciation for where we are now. Sure, your life may be hectic at this very moment, but you also have so much more to be proud of if you really take a closer look.
3. It helps you feel more grateful.
When we’re stressed out, all we can see is the problem right in front of us. When we journal, we often find little tidbits of things to appreciate in our lives in between all of the noise. Gratitude is the quickest and most effective way to see beyond the overwhelm of what’s outside of you in order to realize that our lives are not in shambles. We have so much to be grateful for in our lives. Just waking up today was a blessing in and of itself if you see it as such.
4. It helps you come up with creative solutions.
Many times, our best thinking comes when we allow ourselves to quiet our minds, think, and reflect in solitude. Journaling is a form of meditation. When we get into a relaxed state, we get our most creative ideas and thoughts. Journaling can no doubt help you achieve creative solutions to problems you’re currently dealing with that you didn’t see or think of before. Moreover, it allows you to think objectively without judging yourself.
Will journaling save your life from anxiety? Probably not. But will it help you manage your anxiety in a healthy, productive, and inspiring way? Absolutely. In fact, it’s one of the best habits you can develop to build self-awareness, clarity, and intention into your life!
