3 Easy Journal Prompts To Help You Understand What Is Causing Your Distress

Hi Folks

In a perfect world, we all want to know what is causing us distress straight away!

But that isn't always the case because stressors can surprise us. They can affect us unconsciously- beyond our awareness until it is too late.

This is one explanation for why mental health can stay stagnant and show no improvement.

Journaling is a tool I love to use. You are able to think about things from different perspectives. You come across personal discoveries that highlight new information about yourself. And when you write down your discoveries, you are less likely to forget them.

How to journal to understand distress?

Journal prompts are as beneficial as writing a stream of consciousness. They highlight what is outside of our immediate awareness. Also, answering a question can make you think deeper because you have a reason to.

Determine the what!

Exercise: Try answering one of the questions below to pinpoint what is bothering you.

1. Is there a big life event happening for you at the moment?

2. Has a person in your life upset you in any way?

3. Have you acted in a way that you feel ashamed of or are worrying about?

4. Has there been a build-up of smaller events that have made you feel negative?

5. Is there nothing happening for you currently and so you feel without purpose?

Determining what is bothering can include many different things. If none of the questions relates, try listing everything that is going on within your life under these headers.

• Career / School

• Relationships

• Finances

• Physical Health

Determine the why!

Exercise: Take each item that you wrote down and ask yourself, why is this challenging?

When answering this question, try to think about:

• how it is making you feel

• what thoughts you are thinking

For example, my friend blocked me on Instagram

This is challenging because it made me feel sad that she would not want me to be in her life. I thought she did not want to be my friend or that she hated me. I started to wonder if I had done something wrong, which made me feel anxious.

Determine the how!

When you start to note down how events in your life impact your thoughts and feelings, you can make links to your behaviour.

For example, I am upset and ruminating about my friendship. I have also been sitting in front of the TV for days because i do not want to go outside.

I can now link this to why my mental health has been low recently.

Exercise: Make a list of all the ways in which your behaviour has changed recently. Think about how it has differed from how you act on a good day.

Now you know what is happening, why is it bothering you and how you are reacting to it.

Gaining clarity on what is causing you distress is a vital foundation for improving your mental health.

This cemented knowledge may not vanish your negative thoughts and feelings altogether. But it can give you the confidence and direction to make the next move in managing your daily mental health.

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WANT TO LEARN MORE TIPS?

If you have any questions or have tried out any of the tips in the blog post, leave a comment below to let me know how you got on.

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Until next time, remember you are beautiful, you are valid, and you are loved.