The Catharsis of Writing
One of the most important parts of my job as a clinical mental health counselor is working with clients to identify strengths and resources—internal and external—that allow them a way to ease symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Some resources are simple, immediate tools that take down our internal emotional temperature when we feel anxiety in our body. These can be regulating your breathing (especially focusing on your exhale) or taking a walk or turning on your favorite music.
But after you have soothed a high anxiety level, it can be important to be curious. Why was your anxiety level up if you weren’t facing an immediate threatening situation in which a “fight, flight or freeze” response was necessary?
Journaling is a good way to understand your body’s responses once you have neutralized that perceived immediate threat. A journal entry, which can be made immediately or any time during the day, might start with simple information and thoughts.
Let’s look at a fictional example of a diary for Cathy: “Feb. 7: Felt chest constriction when I heard one of the managers, Tom, literally yelled at my friend, Nancy. Took a walk to the break room and got some water before returning to my desk. Reminded me of being scolded as a child. No one deserves that. We’re not kids any more.”
A couple of days later, Cathy has another anxiety moment and journals it later: “Feb. 9: Another chest constriction, and even felt uneasy in my gut, when Tom approached me. Thought I was going to get the Nancy treatment. Regulated my breathing to stay calm. Turns out he just needed info and wasn’t upset about anything. As I think about it, it reminded me of sixth grade, when Mr. Jones embarrassed me in front of our science class for not being able to know the elements of water. I was 11 and it was our first week of middle school! Who does that?
See the pattern? Cathy’s equating her work situation to bad memories from childhood. Work shouldn’t create so much anxiety that it affects you physically as Cathy describes.
By journaling, you build a record that allows you to see patterns and make connections between present-day situations that are not true threats to past traumas, big or small, that have lingered. Journaling allows the opportunity to release pains of the past (and anger in the present when it is stirred) while also helping you to recognize root causes. It can be both cathartic and informative.
As a therapist, I might work with Cathy to separate negative self-cognitions created in her childhood (“I’m dumb,” to use the science class example) from present-day situations that have no connection to the past. And, of course, I heartily endorse people experiencing recurrent anxiety moments in the present to seek the help of a licensed therapist.
But journaling is a resource that can provide information to us, with or without a therapist. Gaining information about a situation—being curious—is one of the antidotes to anxiety.