Track Your Anxiety

If you’re trying to understand your anxiety symptoms better, tracking it can be a great first step. It allows you to notice any patterns and make meaningful changes that you can track as well. First, pick a tracking method that works for you and choose a system that is easy-to-use. Start tracking your anxiety symptoms. For best results, track other variables such as sleep, food, and outside events. Finally, stick with it and be consistent for best results.

Steps

Creating a System That Works

1. Create a method for tracking. It’s up to you how you want to track your moods. Many people find it easiest to write down their information so that it’s easily referenced. You can use a journal, phone application, spiral notebook, calendar, or write on your computer or phone. If you prefer not to write, use a voice recording device.
   • If one method doesn’t work, try a different one. You want to choose something you can stick to and do every day.
   • There are lots of phone applications that focus on tracking anxiety and stress. You can even set up notifications so that you don’t forget to write.
   • This can be easy because it’s already set up to track vital information and you can toggle what you want to record.
2. Track regularly. You might want to track daily or hourly, depending on your needs. Whatever you do, be consistent. If you track daily, set aside time at the end of the day to check in. if you track throughout the day, write down the time of your symptoms or mood changes.
   • If you track throughout the day, write down the time of each entry. For example, you might write: “7:30 am, woke up feeling anxious. 9:45 am, more relaxed after eating.”
3. Use a daily rating system. If you don’t want to journal about your thoughts and feelings, create a spreadsheet and list various symptoms you experience (“headache,” “irrational fears,” “difficulty concentrating,” etc). Be as extensive as you can be, and don’t be afraid to add to the list. You can use check marks, but it may be more helpful to rate from 1-10 the intensity of the experience.
   • This is a good method for getting an overall feel for each day. It is not as beneficial if your moods, stress, and anxiety change throughout each day.
4. Make a detailed daily record. If you want to get into detail, make a system where you can do mini journal entries. Have a few columns and fill them in along with the time each day. For example, one column might be, “Stressful Event,” the next, “Anxiety Symptoms,” then, “Reaction (thoughts, feelings, behaviors),” and finally, “Coping Response.” In each column, briefly detail the situation or how you responded, along with the time.
   • This system can help you notice minute changes throughout your day and may occur throughout the week. If you experience frequent mood changes or anxiety throughout the day and want to better identify their origins, this is a good method.
   • A sample journal entry might be, “3 pm. Rushing to make a deadline. Feeling tightness in my chest, fear about not finishing. Coped by eating candy.”
5. Keep a thought diary. Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors all go together. If you struggle to manage your anxious thoughts, a thought diary can help. In your thought diary, create some headings such as, “Situation,” “Thoughts/Self-Talk,” “Level of Anxiety,” and, “Notes.” This can be a great way to notice how your thoughts affect your anxiety.
   • Start paying attention to your thoughts. If you notice you feel anxious, trace it back to a thought, then write it down. For example, if you get a headache out of nowhere, track it back to a stressful event or anxiety symptom and think about what was going through your head at the time.

Recording Your Symptoms

1. Write down anxiety symptoms. You may choose which symptoms to pay attention to or track with your therapist or physician. You may wish to write down your symptoms for each entry (such as “anxious,” “tense,” or, “worried”) or check them off from a list, depending on your set up. Write down any thoughts or behaviors that accompany these feelings.
   • You may wish to include a section on how you coped with the symptoms, too. For example, “I felt anxious after speaking with a co-worker, so I went on a walk” or, “The meeting stressed me out so I ate a doughnut.”
2. Document your panic symptoms. Notice when you feel panicky or have a panic attack. You might write down your symptoms or experience, or denote a panic attack during the day with a star or other symbol. If you’re specifically tracking panic symptoms but are also tracking other anxiety symptoms, color code your panic symptoms or find another way to denote them.
   • For example, you can write, “Woke up today and felt panicky before work. At 9:30 am I had a panic attack. Symptoms: shallow breathing, feeling hot, difficulty breathing.”
3. Write down your mood. Get a general idea for what your mood was throughout the day and write it down. This can give you a general idea of how your anxiety correlates with your mood. You can write down your mood (“For example, “High” or “Low,” or “Stable” to “Unstable”) or draw a face that denotes your mood.
   • If you experience more than one mood throughout the day, write that down, too.
   • If you need help tracking or understanding your mood, try Create a Mood Chart for Yourself.
4. Record your physical symptoms. Anxiety often accompanies physical symptoms such as feeling tense, edgy, or restless, having a headache or body aches, feeling nauseous, or having stomach problems. Even if you don’t have apparent anxiety symptoms, track your physical symptoms throughout the day and how they make you feel, as they may contribute to your mood.
   • For example, you might write, “Have headache. Worsened after difficult phone call.”
5. Track your life events. If you’re moving, working overtime, feel sick, or have something else going on, write it down. These external factors can affect your stress levels and anxiety, so it’s important not to ignore them. You may even want to journal about how the events make you feel or affect your overall experience of anxiety.
   • Women may want to note where they are on their menstrual cycles and notice any changes in symptoms that relate to that.

Using Other Significant Data

1. Write down your sleep patterns. Write down some information about your sleep each day. For example, note whether you slept through the night or woke up, had difficulty falling asleep, woke up feeling refreshed or tired. Not getting enough sleep can affect your mood and stress levels, so it can impact your anxiety as well. Write down your sleep first thing in the morning.
   • Keeping a sleep diary can help you know where to make changes to your sleep routine and track how these changes improve how you feel. If you have trouble sleeping, learn how to sleep better.
2. Record your medications. Especially if you easily forget whether you’ve taken your medications or not, tracking them can help. If you don’t take medications regularly, you might notice how you feel when you take them versus when you don’t. This can help you get more regular on your medications or notice how your medications affect you.
   • If you take medications multiple times throughout the day, write down each time you took them.
   • If you make medication or dosage changes, write these down, too.
3. Track how foods affect you. The foods you eat and the times you eat can affect how you feel. For example, if you go too long between meals, you might feel angry or short-tempered. Write down what you ate, when you ate it, and how you felt before and after eating it.
   • You might notice certain food sensitivities or foods that make you feel differently after you eat them.
4. Track over time. Be consistent in your tracking and try to track every day. It’s normal to forget or skip a day or two, but do your best to make it up. If you’re unsure, skip the day’s information instead of guessing.
   • This way, you’ll have data to look over and notice patterns and changes.
5. Analyze your data. When you’ve collected a few days or weeks of data, start to pick up on any patterns you notice. Are there times of day when you notice changes? Did you react more to thoughts or feelings (like worry or self-doubt) or physical sensations (like headaches)? Were stress and anxiety self-generated or did you feel more stressed by other people or situations?

Sources and Citations

See also

• Cope with Anxiety About Death
• Live With a Neurotic
• Manage Anxiety and Panic Disorder
• Deal With Anxiety
• Stop Anxiety
• Control Anxiety
• Overcome Being a Hypochondriac
• Travel when You Have an Anxiety Disorder
• Prevent Anxiety
• Overcome Anxiety

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