Why Journaling Works for Anxiety & Mental Health
Ivy Griffin
A practical, evidence-based guide to using journaling to reduce anxiety, calm overthinking, and improve emotional health.
Understanding Anxiety and Overthinking
The Overlap Between Anxiety and Overthinking
The immense overlap between anxiety and overthinking raises a very “chicken or the egg” type question: Which one comes first? Does it even matter?
Common Symptoms of Anxiety
I think of anxiety as an umbrella term for a physiological state comprising a broad range of sensations and symptoms, most of which are really unpleasant!
Physical symptoms include:
Racing heartbeat
Nausea
Shakiness
Sweating
Behavioral symptoms can look like:
Overthinking
Ruminating
“Obsessing” over worries
How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Explains Anxiety
The Thought-Feeling-Behavior Cycle
In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we focus on the cyclical interaction of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. A thought (I’m a terrible driver!) can trigger a feeling (anxiety), which can trigger a behavior (shakiness, distraction while driving). Or, a feeling (sadness) can trigger a thought (I’m so alone), which can trigger a behavior (curling up on the couch, crying).
All of our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings interact with each other and create our current experience.
Negative Thought Patterns and Cognitive Distortions
As we go about our lives, it’s normal to have some amount of negative thoughts.
In fact, evolution has wired our brains to focus more on the negative, so we can look out for danger and survive.
The problem is that there’s not a whole lot of actual threats that might kill us on the daily. But our brains and bodies react as if our survival depends on how we deal with minor conflicts.
So, if you pay attention to your thoughts, you might notice patterns. Your thoughts might be more negative than you had realized, or you might think a lot of things repetitively.
CBT identifies types of cognitive distortions that we all engage in sometimes, like:
Catastrophizing - I have a migraine today. I had a migraine last month, too. I must have a brain tumor. I’m going to die.
All-or-nothing thinking - I didn’t work out today, so there’s no point in going to the gym the rest of the week.
These are normal thoughts that can cause emotional pain and stress.
Sometimes we fixate on the thoughts, and it can ruin our next hour or our entire day.
It sucks, but we can bounce back from this type of everyday overthinking.
If journaling ever feels overwhelming or increases your anxiety, know that you don’t have to navigate it alone. Thrive Therapy & Counseling offers a safe, supportive space to help you process your thoughts and find healthier ways to cope. Connect with us here.
Overthinking and Rumination
When Overthinking Becomes a Spiral
The real struggle is when our thoughts spiral out of control and stir up all kinds of anxiety, and we can’t seem to distract ourselves or break the cycle.
When this happens, we ruminate on the negative thoughts so much that we don’t even realize they’re thoughts anymore. We believe our thoughts are the absolute truth, we feel terrible about ourselves, and we can’t seem to focus on anything else.
Hello, overthinking.
You might feel like:
Your mind is running a marathon you didn’t sign up for.
You can’t relax, no matter how hard you try.
You’re to blame for anything and everything that goes wrong.
You can’t get the thoughts out of your head, even though your friends tell you to just stop thinking about it.
Journaling for Anxiety: Why It Works
The Benefits of Journaling for Anxiety and Mental Health
It is so painful to get stuck on this runaway train of overthinking.
One step you can take to slow down immediately is journaling.
Why journal?
Here are some evidence-based benefits:
Externalizes thoughts → decreases your mental load
Helps identify distorted thought patterns
Encourages mindfulness and stress reduction
Strengthens self-awareness and emotional clarity
Evidence-Based Benefits of Expressive Writing
Journaling gives you an emotional outlet. It helps decrease anxiety, depression, anger, and stress by unburdening yourself as you write about negative experiences (Pennebaker & Smyth, 2016).
Yes, it’s actually more helpful to write about painful things than to repress those feelings!
With overthinking, you get lost in the chaos of your thoughts and can easily lose track of what is true and what is not. Journaling helps you slow down, recognize the cognitive distortions you’re having, and reframe them. It also helps you develop coping skills and build more emotional resilience (Gonzalez, 2016).
Because journaling encourages you to focus on the present, it helps you step off the anxiety spiral and get grounded. Such mindfulness also helps you regulate your emotions and reduces stress (Zhao et al, 2020).
Writing expressively helps increase emotional awareness AND emotional intelligence. When you take the time to explore your feelings, you can make wiser, more grounded decisions. You can also learn from past experiences and develop better insight over time (Lange & McFadden, 2017).
In my work with clients, the most meaningful benefits I witness clients experience when they journal are:
having a way to release the pressure build-up from all the anxious thoughts
learning their thought patterns and triggers
developing a much clearer understanding of themselves
And, honestly, understanding ourselves better can be utterly life-changing.
Journaling in Practice: A Case Example
Alex’s Story
Consider this:
(Any examples we share are a compilation of multiple people’s experiences to protect everyone’s privacy. Names and details have been changed.)
When Alex started journaling, she was shocked to realize how negative her thoughts were. She tried following The Artist’s Way and couldn’t believe that her writing kept focusing on how she was not good enough as a friend, partner, daughter, etc. In therapy, Alex talked about how she didn’t know she had such a critical voice in her head all the time. She started to make connections between her self-talk and her mood fluctuations throughout the day, and she knew she wanted to speak to herself differently.
It took Alex time to recognize these patterns and start to practice new ways of thinking and writing. After all, these thought-patterns had been built over decades. She balked at first at the idea of self-compassion, but then she started journaling using Kristin Neff’s prompts to practice. She noticed a stark difference in her writing as she began to talk to herself the way she talks to her friends. (Alex is a really kind person!) She also started to feel happier and calmer.
Alex’s outlook changed as she used writing as a tool to build, practice, and repeat new patterns.
But it took subtle progress over several months because these habits were ingrained - as they are for most of us.
Alex also had to work through her own beliefs that limited her progress, like:
I’ll fail if I go easy on myself.
I have to push myself hard in order to be successful.
Over many weeks, Alex unpacked how these beliefs stemmed from what she learned in childhood and how they weren’t very helpful anymore.
If journaling ever feels overwhelming or increases your anxiety, know that you don’t have to navigate it alone. Thrive Therapy & Counseling offers a safe, supportive space to help you process your thoughts and find healthier ways to cope. Connect with us here.
How to Begin Journaling for Anxiety Relief
Step One: Start Journaling
If you’re struggling with overthinking and anxiety spirals, journaling can be a great first step to recognizing your patterns and beginning to cope better.
You can journal on your own at any time. Or, for many people, working with a supportive therapist or coach in conjunction with journaling is really helpful. A trained professional can accelerate your progress, challenge your stuck spots, and guide your personal growth even deeper.
However you’d like to begin, I invite you to start. Remember to write consistently (at least every couple of days) and stick with it over a couple of months to see progress.
Step Two: Reach Out for Support
If you need more support or would like a guide to help you through the journey, don’t hesitate to reach out today.
References:
Cameron, J. (1992). The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Perigee.
González, A. M., et al. (2016). Writing about emotional experiences and problem-solving in health-related contexts: A meta-analysis. Psychology & Health, 31(2), 182-195.
Lange, E. B., & McFadden, K. L. (2017). Journaling and emotional intelligence: A guide to self-awareness and growth.
Neff, K. (n.d.). Self-compassion practices: Cultivate inner peace and joy. Self-Compassion. Retrieved September 4, 2025, from
Pennebaker, J. W., & Smyth, J. M. (2016). Opening up by writing it down: How expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Zhao, L., et al. (2020). The role of journaling in mindfulness and emotional regulation. Mindfulness, 11(4), 823-832.