Calming Myself Down When in Panic Mode: A Journaling Example

For if you need help completing your Journaling Prompts

Journaling to relieve anxiety. Created with Adobe Express

I recently wrote about the 5 prompts that I use when I’m on an anxiety episode.

As I mentioned, these have been created after over 20 years of journaling.

However, I remember when I first started journaling seeing an example of how other people responded to certain prompts helped me immensely to understand what I should be asking my brain to do.

So, today, I’ll give you a tangible example of the prompts.

1. What happened?

This is the most obvious. First and foremost, you need to write down the objective bare facts of the situation that’s giving you anxiety.

I sent my work to my supervisor. I thought it was very well done, so I expected that she’d be happy about it.

Instead, I made a mistake. She replied my email saying that she was expecting that it’d be error free, and that she needed me to double check these kind of issues before I sent anything to her next time.

2. What am I telling myself about this situation?

Here is where emotions are allowed. Here’s where you can plainly and honestly explain how this situation is making you feel, and why.

I am a failure and I dropped the ball. She’s never going to trust me anymore. She may even be considering to fire me and hire someone who never makes mistakes.

What am I going to do if I lose my job? I have to pay mortgage and all the kid’s expenses.

How long is it going to take me to find a new job? Will anyone hire me if I get fired?

What if they ask me for a reference, she won’t say a nice word about me after these mistakes.

3. What would my friend tell me about my reading of the situation?

Imagine your best friend comes and tells you the same thing you are telling yourself. They ask you to have a realistic assessment. What would you tell them?

First and foremost, it is a normal mistake that anyone can make. Nobody is perfect and you are probably overreacting to your boss’ email.

She never mentioned wanting to fire you, she just said that you should double-check these things.

Regardless, how many good things have you done for your organization? Do you think it’d be easy to replace you or the work that you do?

And even if she decided to fire you. You have support, and multiple financial tools to help you while you find a job. You could even go to your home country with the kids for a while while things stabilize.

So I wouldn’t worry much. On top of this, remember that she is human too. Maybe she was stressed out about something else and didn’t pay a lot of attention at making sure she didn’t accidentally hurt your feelings. You are just a little part of her probably already complicated day.

4. What is a realistic assessment of the situation?

Here’s where you let go of your fears unless I managed to do so while trying to think like your best friend would.

My friend is right. Everybody is allowed to make mistakes, and the good that I bring way outweighs my mistakes.

And even if they fired me, I would be supported, I’d be fine.

BONUS. What’s the worst that could happen if my fears came to life?

Ask yourself, realistically, what is the worst that can happen, and whether you’d be able to find a fulfilling life in that scenario. You probably would.

Like my friend said, I could go home in Europe for a while. We could sell the house and move to a smaller space until we recovered financially if I struggled to find a new job too.

I could start a new project, take the kids out of daycare and spend more time with them, or spend time fixing the house myself if I decide selling is not our best option.

The options are limitless!

See? We took an internal negative message into a hopeful “nothing is so terrible” attitude.

And with that attitude, you’d have the power to ask your supervisor for clarification and realize that, maybe, she already moved on from that.

I hope this helps.

Journal away!