Using journal prompts for anxiety can be a helpful tool for your mental health. Journaling helps you to get all of your worries out of your head, which can help stop negative thought cycles. It can also help you to identify the source of your anxiety because it’s not always clear for a lot of us! And journaling can also guide you to a solution by helping you process the information in a healthy manner and viewing it from a bit of a distance. Find more benefits to anxiety here.
When finding time to journal, make sure you can have 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time to really sit with your thoughts. Taking a little bit of time after you journal to reflect on what came up for you can help you to release that anxiety and move forward with a lighter heart! There are no rules when working through these. So choose whichever journal prompts seem to fit best for your current anxiety. Do as many (or as few) prompts as you feel you need!
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Journal Prompts for Anxiety
- List 3 things that you love about yourself.
- Find 3 things that you are grateful for.
- What is something challenging that you have overcome?
- How has that made you stronger?
- And what opportunities has that brought into your life?
- What makes you feel secure?
- And what makes you feel confident?
- Name your fear. What are you afraid of?
- Why are you so worried about that?
- Can you identify what triggers your anxiety?
- How can you make that more comfortable? (See: How to Deal with Triggers)
- List 3 things that you can do to make you feel more relaxed.
- Write one small goal that you can achieve today.
- What advice would you give to a friend with this same anxiety?
- Are there people surrounding you who cause anxiety in your life?
- Who are they?
- What do they do to cause that anxiety?
- Write them a letter
- A method that can be seen in my article on Friendship Breakups
- Name 3 things you are proud of yourself for
- Where do you feel anxiety in your body?
- What does it feel like?
- How can you release that anxiety from your body?
- What is a “win” for your day (no matter how small!)?
- How does anxiety protect you?
- Thank your anxiety for protecting you
- List your boundaries.
- How can you enforce them and make them known?
- Find a small way you can step outside of your comfort zone?
- What are your needs?
- How can you set boundaries from taking on other people’s emotions and stressors?
- When might this anxiety realistically end?
- What do I hope to gain when overcoming this situation?
- How might this situation help me grow?
Check out Journal Prompts for Triggers next for more!
Brain Dump to Release Anxiety
Another very helpful strategy when journaling for anxiety is to do a brain dump. A brain dump is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, dumping all of those negative, anxious thoughts from your brain. If you don’t release those thoughts, they will continue to rattle around in your brain and take up that precious brain space of yours.
When doing a brain dump, just as mentioned above, make sure you have 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time to journal. But, with a brain dump, you don’t have to necessarily reflect back on your writing. In fact, I never do. It helps me to write authentically, without judgment or filter, knowing that I will not be reviewing it afterward.
With that in mind, don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, or any errors. There is no grade offered for your brain dump. Free write any and every thought that crosses your mind during the time that you allow for yourself. Get it all out and let it go.
Save for a Later Date
Bookmark this article for those moments you experience anxiety. The keyword there is experience, because that is what it is – an experience. You are not the anxiety, you are not an anxious person. Instead, you experience anxiety. That little reframing might help you separate yourself from the anxiety itself. It’s also helpful to remember that we all experience anxiety from time to time!
I hope that these 30+ journal prompts for anxiety (and my brain dump strategy!) can help you to relieve some of your fears and worries. You might even find a solution along the way!
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