Mental Health Tips: 7 Journal Prompts for Anxiety

Smiling African American woman writing in her journal

Journal prompts are great tools to help with anxiety and other stressful moments in your life. As I mentioned in a previous post, journal writing is an effective way to deal with the small and not-so-small things that cause you to worry, become anxious, and procrastinate.

Additionally, if you have been diagnosed with any form of anxiety by a mental health professional, using journal prompts in your writing is a great tool to use along with your medication, therapy sessions, or group meetings. And, to paraphrase William Wordsworth, when you journal to write, it “fills your paper with the breathing of your heart.”

Now, let’s take a brief look at anxiety.

Anxious African American woman biting her nails — Anxiety is the most common mental health illness

Brief Overview of Anxiety

We all experience anxiety at one time or another. So, it is part of the human experience. However, people with anxiety disorders experience frequent, persistent, intense, and excessive worry about everyday things and situations. And some anxiety disorders can prevent someone from functioning in their daily activities.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health illness in the U.S., affecting about 18% of the adult population. Sometimes, the symptoms start during childhood or adolescents. However, it can also develop in adulthood. And although anxiety is very treatable, only about 37% receive treatment.

Writing helps to process your thoughts and feelings

How Journal Writing Helps Anxiety

This article isn’t about curing or solving your bouts with anxiety. However, I present one method that can help you tremendously if you’re worrying about an issue or if you’re anxious about the long list of things on your to-do list. One of the biggest advantages of journal writing is that it allows you to process your thoughts and learn more about yourself.

Essentially, as you write, you are having a conversation with yourself. Rather than listening to the voices in your head, you’re also listening to the unspoken words in your heart, soul, and spirit.

So, take about 15 minutes a day to have a heart-to-heart conversation with yourself. You don’t have to write anything lengthy, but please go ahead if your heart and pen fall in love and want to keep writing. However, a few bullet points can also help tremendously.

And there’s no judgment here. You have other sisters in this circle writing along with you and cheering you on. We’re OK with being vulnerable together.

Black journal with blue pen — Write in a journal daily to help with anxiety

Journal Prompts for Anxiety

So, what’s a journal prompt? A journal prompt is a question or statement that helps you to describe, explain, or process an idea or feeling. Below, I present seven journal prompts to get you started.