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By Andrea Lanier, Group Facilitator previous page
Journaling may also help to support your memory, which is usually severely challenged by an anxiety disorder. Writing down what is important allows you to let go of worry as well as the worry over forgetting something. In this instance, journaling allows you to review the tools that have worked in the past when coping with anxiety. It also provides an account of the progress made or of a decline in well being. Reviewing one's progress can help achieve an attitude of: "I have overcome this before, and so I will overcome it again." Reviewing a decline in well being, on the other hand, may help you identify what caused the decline and how to use this knowledge to increase your well being.
Another aspect of journaling that comes to mind is that of gratitude. I have come to believe that two feelings that are incompatible are gratitude and anxiety. One feeling cannot be experienced with the other being present. Therefore, journaling could be used to focus on gratitude. Again, we are made up of more than any disorder - far more. But at times of suffering, this is not always so easy to remember. Write down what is good about you and what is good in your life. Write that you are courageous, courageous just for living every single day with an anxiety disorder. Look honestly at the things you can do. Those may be things that other people do easily and take for granted, but for you they are much more difficult. And go on to write of things that important to you in some way - perhaps there is a special person in your life, or a pet; or, perhaps you gain joy from sunshine, from trees, from flowers, from sunsets, a stream of water or candle light. We are surrounded by "miracles," including those within you. It's your choice as to what you focus on.
I am sure there is more that could be said about journaling, but perhaps you could find out for yourself and add to my list. Minimally, it may help to organize your thoughts and bring relief from just too much to feel. At its best, it might lead to the discovery of a love for writing, for creating something with words, and thus causing a sense of satisfaction. Usually, writing works best when the motivation is there. However, I have heard people say that motivation does not arise out of waiting for it but out of action. So I suggest you build a habit of designating twenty minutes at a particular time of each day to writing whatever comes to mind or to use feelings of anxiety to serve as a signal: It's time to write.
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