Journaling for anxiety is writing down what is going round in your head so it stops going round. That is the whole of it. No special notebook, no rules about how much or how neatly, no need to keep it up every day.
I have done it for years, through my own anxious and low patches, and it is the one thing I have never stopped doing. This page is the plain version of what I have learned: what the research says, how to start when even starting feels like too much, and the three ways of journaling I use depending on the day.
Does journaling help with anxiety?
Yes, for a lot of people, and the research backs it. In one study, adults with anxiety who wrote for fifteen minutes or so, three days a week, for twelve weeks reported less anxiety and less distress after the first month, and the effect held (Smyth and colleagues, JMIR Mental Health, 2018). The older expressive-writing research from James Pennebaker found similar things from three or four short sessions of writing about what is weighing on you.
Anxiety is common: around 1 in 5 people in England have a common mental health problem like anxiety or depression in any given week (Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2023/24, via Mind). Journaling is not a cure for it. It is a way of carrying it that is lighter than carrying it in your head.
Why does writing it down help?
Because a worry in your head has nowhere to go. It loops. The same three sentences, over and over, getting louder. Once it is on paper, two things happen. Your mind stops having to hold on to it, because the page is holding it now. And you can see it, which means you can look at it, which is different from being inside it.
Most of my worries look smaller written down. Not all of them. But even the big ones stop growing.
in your headon the pageHow do I start journaling for anxiety when I cannot start?
The blank page is the hardest bit, and everyone gets stuck there, so here is what I do.
- Start with your body, not the worry. “Shoulders up round my ears. Jaw tight. Cannot sit still.” That is a first line and it needs no thinking.
- Set a stopping point before you begin. Five minutes, or one page, or until the kettle boils. Knowing it will end makes it possible to start.
- Lower the bar to the floor. One word counts. A list counts. Scribbling the same word ten times counts. Nobody is marking it.
- Use a prompt if you need one. I keep thirty of them here, sorted by the moment you are in.
- Finish with one small soothing thing. A warm drink, a window open, feet on the floor. Something from the five senses. Close the book on a kinder note than you opened it.
What are the three ways to journal for anxiety?
I use all three. They suit different days.
Pour it out
No structure at all. Write whatever is there until it is out, then stop. This is the one for the middle of the night and the spiral. It does not need to make sense and you never have to read it back.
Keep a worry diary
Write each worry down as it turns up, with the time, then leave it until a fixed fifteen minutes later in the day when you go back and look at them all together. Most have gone quiet by then. The ones still there get the Worry Tree question: can I do anything about this? How to keep a worry diary has the layout.
Keep a thought diary
For when the same thought keeps hurting. Write the situation, the thought, what you felt, and then a fairer version of the thought. It is the method from CBT, and it works on paper with no training. How to keep a thought diary.
If you are not sure which, start with pouring it out. The other two can come later, or never.
How often should I journal for anxiety?
As often as it helps and no more. The research above used three short sessions a week, and that is a good rhythm to aim at if you want one. But a journal you use on the bad days only is still a journal that helps on the bad days. Mine has gaps of weeks in it. It waits.
Is a journal better than an app for anxiety?
For me, paper. My phone is where the anxiety often comes from, and a notebook cannot show me a notification. Writing by hand is slower, which is the point. But the honest answer is: whichever one you will pick up. If that is your phone at 3am, the Worry Tree app is free and made for exactly that.
What do I write in an anxiety journal?
Anything. If that is not enough of an answer, here are the things that turn up most in mine:
- What my body is doing right now
- The worry, in one sentence, and whether I can do anything about it
- Three things I can see, hear and feel, if I need to come back to the room
- What I am grateful for, on the days I can manage that, and it is fine when I cannot
- One kind thing I would say to a friend in the same spot
- What I will do next that is small and soothing
A journal built for exactly this
For years I made my own journals by hand to get through my own anxiety and low days. The Self-Soothing Journal, my anxiety journal is that journal, printed properly: the calming skills up front (5-4-3-2-1 grounding, mindful breathing, the emotions wheel, the Worry Tree), then a hundred or so pages of space with gentle prompts and colouring pages for when words will not come. It is A5, Wire-O bound so it lies flat, printed in the UK, and undated so there is nothing to miss. Printed for you when you order; the price and delivery are on the shop page.
It is educational self-help, not therapy or medical advice. If today feels heavier than a page can hold, please talk to someone. The helplines at the bottom of this page are there for exactly that.