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By Andrea Lanier, Group Facilitator next page
For many people, journaling, writing down one's thoughts, feelings, and experiences may seem a futile activity that would take up precious time. However, my reports from people who write into a journal regularly, my own experiences, as well as books and articles I have read, have shown me that regular writing into a journal has a positive effect on anxiety and stress. Furthermore, the benefits of journaling don't stop here.
One of the most important aspects of journaling for coping with anxiety is that of organizing one's thoughts and feelings. Anxiety consists primarily of a variety of undesirable feelings that are triggered by thoughts. However, the enormous speed by which the brain translates thoughts into feelings makes it seem as if the feelings arose all on their own. One may learn to untangle this confusion by writing down one's feelings so as to be able to analyze them, then to think back to what one's thoughts were just before the anxiety came about. Describing one's feelings in writing makes them visible and places them outside of one's self. There, they become easier to examine. It becomes easier to attach thoughts to them, and then to counter them with thoughts that are healthier and conducive to desirable feelings.
At times of intense anxiety, writing whatever comes to mind and whatever appears to be important at the time may play the role of just distracting and calming the mind. Writing may act as a valve, to allow for catharsis, for a release/relief of one's emotions, of one's pain, frustration, or despair. We do not always have someone to tell how we feel when we most need to. Writing our feelings, thoughts, and experiences on a piece of paper can also show us the impermanence of our experiences. At times of pain and suffering, one may fall into the trap of predicting this suffering to be permanent. One may even have the idea that difficult conditions one is faced with will never change. Keeping a journal on all one's experiences, thoughts, and ideas may allow you to recognize that all experiences are subject to change. This does not mean that a chronic illness will go away just by journaling, but that one's perception of this condition may change. It also means that you can come to see that your existence is made up of more than your ailment.
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