So my shrink — actually, she’s a behavioral psychologist, which means that, rather than help me work through difficult issues, she tries to change my behavior to minimize stress. Anyway, my behavioral psychologist suggested I keep a worry journal.
At the end of each day, I’m supposed to take ten minutes and write some notes on what’s causing me stress and anxiety. The idea is to leave my worries on the page so that I might relax for the evening and get some sleep. Since the shrink (behavioral psychologist) gave me this assignment three weeks ago, I’ve done it exactly once. It’s partly a matter of not having enough time, and partly a matter of not having enough motivation.
I did set a recurring alert on my Google calendar, reminding me to write in my worry journal. My phone buzzes at 5:20 each weekday, letting me know there are only ten minutes left until I have the pleasure of reliving my worst fears and anxieties. Yay!
As noted, I’ve only done this once. It didn’t help. I was self conscious, and the exercise left me thinking more, not less, about my worries. And now, in addition to everything else, I worry about not writing in my worry journal. Isn’t that exactly the opposite of the point? Thanks goodness my GP gave me meds to help with anxiety and sleep. Those, at least, seem to be working.
Yay science.