A good article appeared today in the New York Times on journaling, anxiety and the newer use of ‘guided notebooks.’ “Feeling Anxious and Journaling.”  This is a growing trend and is very important in dealing with anxiety.  Here are some highlights concerning ‘guided notebooks’ as a newer development in treating anxiety during the pandemic:

Over many centuries, journals have served as tools for recording history, as emotional outlets and as creative stimulants. In the current age of self-care and self-optimization — not to mention digital overload — logbooks are resurging, this time as a means of supporting one’s mental health.

The Anti-Anxiety Notebook, a tidy blue-and-white volume, is one example. It takes a page, or several, from cognitive-behavioral therapy, featuring work sheets that aim to challenge cognitive distortions — the thought patterns that can make anxiety worse, such as catastrophizing (assuming the most disastrous possibility will play out) or self-blaming (“believing that you are entirely responsible for a negative situation,” as the book’s appendix puts it).

The potential value of mental health care has not escaped businesses. Venture capital firms invested $852 million in mental health tools in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 73 percent since the same period last year. –

And there’s a documented demand for such tools. “Individuals are seeking out treatment at levels we’ve never seen before,” said Dr. Vaile Wright, the senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association.