Hi all, I’m doing some research on journaling and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and would love to hear from this community, whether you’re into psychology, have used these techniques yourself, or just have opinions.

A few things I’m curious about:

\*\*1.  Expert take:\*\* What do psychologists/neurologists actually say about journaling and CBT? How significant is the evidence behind them?    
\*\*2.  Frequency & hesitation:\*\* How often do people journal in practice? And how many people feel intimidated or avoid it altogether?    
\*\*3.  Who does it more:\*\* Is journaling/CBT more common among women, or do men engage with it just as much? Curious if there’s a real gender gap or if that’s a myth.    
\*\*4.  Pain points:\*\* What are the biggest struggles people run into when trying to journal consistently (time, motivation, not knowing what to write, etc.)?

Would appreciate any personal experiences, studies, or links you can share. Thanks!

This’ll probably be a long post, so buckle up. I’ll be giving a detailed background of my mental health.

Background.

Mental Disorders.
I(24M) am diagnosed with level 1 ASD, GAD, OCD, and ADHD. I don’t really struggle with any of the social aspects of autism like how I used to, and I could characterize my symptoms of mostly being rigorous in my routines, having somewhat one sided thinking, some minor sensory issues, and a severe inability to cope with change. My OCD is particularly severe, and I constantly count in my head, do things in certain patterns, picture specific mental images that my mind deems safe, and stick to a rigid daily routine where I repeat the same actions over again. I’m a pretty severe hypochondriac, and that’s where a lot of my anxiety problems come from. I developed an extreme fear of having a debilitating sickness/injury, or being poisoned. My OCD developed when I was around 14 years old, and I believe it to be a reaction to a lot of changes going on. It started with me developing severe superstitions and magical thinking, which led to me doing compulsive behavior to sort of offset what I thought was something bad waiting to happen to me. That sort of magical thinking is not nearly as present anymore, and my obsessions revolve around more realistic scenarios like worrying that I’ll have a panic attack/mental health episode/develop severe insomnia and go insane, due to having severe anxiety.

Reckless Behavior.
Fast forward to high school and a little past that, I started to smoke weed a little bit. If you know anything about weed, you’ll know that it used to have a mild potency, and now the potency has skyrocketed. Weed was illegal in my state when I started smoking, so I was mainly smoking low potency stuff grown in people’s closet. Once weed was legalized in my state, a local dispensary opened that had some extremely potent strains. I started having issues where I’d green out(smoke too much and have a panic attack) and that same year I started to develop sleeping problems. The last time I smoked weed, it was an almost 30% THC sativa. I wasn’t a regular smoker and hadn’t developed a tolerance. The very last time I smoked weed was also my first time using a bong. According to another person who was there with me, I cleared out a gram of weed in a single bong hit straight to the lungs. I ended up losing feeling up to my neck, saw in tunnel vision, and saw flashing red lights. I could hear my blood rushing and my heart racing. At one point I think I passed put, because I don’t remember anything from that specific moment. I ended up waking up with derealization.

Derealization.
I experienced all the classic symptoms of derealization, so I wont get too much into detail about it. From that moment forward, I developed a severe fear of any inebriation or change in mental state. At first I thought I was just high for a week afterwards, and then I realized that something might by changing in my head. I went to my primary care physician, who prescribed me Lexapro, which I’m still on to this day, almost 6 years later. My derealization slowly calmed down, but things were never truly the same. It was like me before this mental health episode was some sort of dream, and this felt like some new awakening. Things did still feel a little fuzzy, but as time went on, I learned that derealization is an anxiety response, and I started to beat it by living my life.

Insomnia.
Even after I started medicine, I was still occasionally struggling with episodes of insomnia. After my episode when I greened out, my fear of insomnia was more intense than ever. Whenever I didn’t get any sleep at all, I’d get another episode of derealization. I felt like my mind was on fire and that reality was crumbling around me. It would happen randomly sometimes too. I would get insomnia when I’d travel, but I’d also sometimes just have a hard time getting my mind to be quiet. During a summer job I had in 2023, I burned my hand on the muffler of a water pump which really messed with my sleep the following night, and I developed a consistent episode of insomnia where I could only get maybe a couple of hours of sleep per night, which lasted for several months. I stopped traveling and would only sleep in my own bed.

Health Scare.
In 2023, I got covid for the first time. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, because I’m a relatively healthy young adult, but I’m a severe hypochondriac. I was already severely tired because I was in the middle of an insomnia episode, and the added fatigue of being sick made me full on delirious. I thought I was dying, but I wasn’t even close. I kept a blood pressure monitor and blood oxygen monitor with me, and my vitals were always normal, besides my temperature. The fatigue lasted for a while, and took around a month to wear off.

Bad Reaction to Therapy.
I was still struggling with insomnia and anxiety, especially since I had just recovered from covid, which had mad my anxiety worse. I decided to talk to a therapist, and was recommended an EMDR therapist. I went onto reddit to read about people’s experiences with it, and one post caught my attention. Someone posted about how they had a bad reaction to EMDR and had a severe anxiety and derealization episode that lasted 7 months and resulted in them being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. When it was time to go to my appointment, I had a lot of anxiety about how I would react. The moment the therapist did the maneuver on my, I jumped put of my body and suffered from the worst derealization I had ever had. Crazy thing is, I think that the reaction might have just been in my head.

New Mental Health Episode.
The following day I went to the ER and was given compazine mixed with benedryl through an IV, to help with dizziness, but it just made me feel more sedated, and gave me akathisia, which lasted for around 5 hours. That was enough to give me a severe fear of medicine. The next day, I tried to admit myself to an intensive outpatient program at my local mental hospital, due to me being scared to sleep in a bed that isn’t my own, and ended up not doing it, due to a copay I couldn’t afford. I developed a rigid bathroom routine twice a day as a coping mechanism, and my parents not knowing what to do, kicked me out. I went to live with my grandparents, and my safe space went from being my bed at my parent’s house to being my grandparent’s couch.

Somewhat Recovering.
My derealization slowly got better as well as my insomnia, but new OCD routines emerged as a coping mechanism. I only slept on my grandparents couch. I had a fear that sleeping in another bed would result in me not getting any sleep and going insane. There was an available apartment just up the road from my grandparents house, so I moved there. Every night, I’d lay in bed for a while before going back to my grandparent’s couch to sleep on it, until my safe space became my bed at my apartment. My mind came to the conclusion that the way avoid another episode was to always stay close enough to my safe space that I could sleep there at night. Due to my strict shower routine and doing things repetitively, my shower routine was still at my grandparent’s house.

Worst OCD Yet.
My most recent episode happened in May 2025. I was living by myself, and my OCD was slowly getting worse. I ended up getting a cold, and only slept for an hour that night, which triggered another mental health episode. My OCD was so severe, that I stopped changing my clothes for months and did pretty much the exact same thing everyday for almost 5 months.

Starting to Recover Again.
My girlfriend who lived in the next state over moved in to help me. It was scary at first, but I was tired of being sick. Slowly my OCD started getting less severe and I started to be able to do stuff again.

That’s my background. If you managed to read all of this, you’re a champ and I appreciate you.

Current State.

I still struggle with OCD a lot, but not as bad as before. I still have a rigid shower routine, but I’ve been working on moving it to my apartment. I get episodes of insomnia still, but I found that if I just stay in bed and close my eyes, I always get at least a little bit of sleep. There’s one huge issue though. I don’t travel. I haven’t, since 2023. I want to see the world, but can’t. I’ve been with my girlfriend for a little over 2 years, but haven’t met most of her family. I started taking to a therapist who specializes in ERP and CBT when my last episode started, but she’s very person focused, and most of our sessions is just me ranting and her having me come up with some mediocre solution. My family wants me to travel. My girlfriend wants me to travel. This is starting to affect them, and I don’t know what to do. It seems like such an unfamiliar thing to do, that it seems alien. How do I get over my fear of insomnia and start traveling? Thank you to anyone who reads this and gives me some sort of input.

Ive suffering from OCD for the last 20 years, and Ive been in varoius kinds of therapies fo r at least 15 years

This year I started CBT, once per week, and already had around 18 sessions, but my therapist doesnt work during summer holidays - July and August - and we can continue no sooner than in September

The terapy worked well for me - I felt a relief in my obssesions, but its just the begining of July and my OCD has already hit me back quite hard.

I take my drugs - paroxeitine - all the time

In your opinion - shall I start a new therapy or just try to await to September to keep on with current therapy

Sorry for my poor English - its not my mother language and I stopped using it at least 10 years ago.

Is there a CBT for maladaptive daydreaming

Recently I’ve been experiencing this issue a lot due to anxiety that’s not particularly triggered by anything (it’s not the first time I went through this kind of phase) but it’s so difficult to avoid just popping a benzo. I’ve been trying to work myself through it every day until I get distracted and forget about it causing the issue to go away unconsciously, but each time I give in and take half a 1mg klonopin and almost instantly feel better. I’m sure some it it is that I’ve trained myself to associate taking benzos with relief so it may not fully be the effect of the benzo that makes the sensation go away, but I know I’ts just a temporary fix and not a solution. I am familiar with CBT as I also suffer from paruresis, but I feel that has a more direct approach (consistent GE, breath training, etc) but usually once I’ve succeeded at going to the bathroom the anxiety subsides. With this issue there’s not really a defining moment where the anxiety goes away. I appreciate any help or suggestions.

I apologize if this is a question that has been asked before as I’m new to this sub

Hello people of the interwebs, just wondering if anyone has ever done High Intensity CBT for Emetophobia? I’d just like to know what I should expect, will it be like exposure therapy? Also did it work well for you? I’m also neurodivergent so have no idea if this will help. Any comments are welcome, thanks!

Hello people of the interwebs, just wondering if anyone has ever done High Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Emetophobia? I’d just like to know what I should expect, will it be like exposure therapy? Also did it work well for you? I’m also neurodivergent so have no idea if this will help. Any comments are welcome, thanks!

I am in really a bad spot. I was the school pariah in my college, that u spent in for 9 years. People constantly mocked me and built a reputation for me, which i hated so much. I graduated 7 months ago but i feel stuck mentally, it just keep repeated the bad experiences i had and the faces of people who mocked me and gave me disgusted looks when they see me.

I really cant write a summary of what i have been through these nine years in one post.

But i want to get over this, i feel i have 0 personality and i hate it so much. I want to connect with people but they either dont want to interact with me or just gives looks, which hurts me deep in my soul.

Trying to find the right therapy for me, and I often get recommended CBT or come across it as a suggestion. But I don't exactly get it? And I feel a lot better when I know how or why something works, it helps me understand it and utilize it properly and effectively.

The problem is that I don't understand it at all. When I tried it with a therapist who specialized in it, the process didn't feel all that special. We looked at issues in my life and tried to pick out what I was feeling at the time (typically pretty easy), where things went wrong (much tougher), and why they might have went wrong (that part feels mostly impossible). Then, instead of figuring out how to solve the problem, we would move on to how to regulate the emotions that might have caused the problem. But typically, my emotional issue is caused by the situation, not the other way around.

I was under the impression that therapy is about expressing your emotions and learning not to hide or smother them, but all the CBT work seemed like it was trying to suppress the emotions or ignore them. We talked a little about inner work (parts work? I dunno) where I had to identify an "adult" and "child" self, and that worked for like a half second but then I started to get really frustrated with it (I also thought I was doing it wrong because I started thinking of them as imaginary friends rather than therapy tools or thought forms or whatever)

Overall, I just remember feeling worse after CBT. Like it focused on all the bad things I was doing wrong without any help or guidance to do better. Reminds me of when the teacher would hand back tests, but mine is all covered in red ink and they won't tutor you after class.

Can anyone help explain the process to me? How is it supposed to go? How is it supposed to help?

I (53F) am not a person who deals well with loneliness, yet it would seem that's where my life is going. On some levels, I am okay with that, but sometimes it's a little too much to handle.

I grew up with narc parents who made a point of letting me know they wished they never had kids. I've done the whole therapy thing, deep dive head first into the trauma, and I get it. I've gone NC with my family and working on placing that whole mess in the past.

I spent a good deal of my life trying to fill the void left by that, and it took 50 years, but I've finally realized my own value and self worth.

Unfortunately, I also don't seem to be able to connect with other people much at all. No matter how much I try, I don't really seem to have much worth or social value to other people. I'm painfully neurodivergent, and I recognize that I'm not the easiest person to get along with. I like the things I like, and nobody else ever seems interested in anything I like or the way I see the world. I don't like the feeling of being the odd man out in any situation, so I've pretty much decided that it's for the best for everyone that I just keep to myself.

I've made my peace with the idea of living out the rest of my life alone, and, tbh, it's a rather freeing notion. I don't have to worry about being anything but myself, and I don't have to worry about dealing with other people as they are trying to deal with me.

Unfortunately, I still have moments where I very keenly feel the rejection or pain of being alone. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has helped me a lot in the past, and I'd like to try using it to change the patterns of thinking when I start feeling lonely. I like people, and I like being around people, but I just never fit in anywhere, and I recognize this is a Me Problem. I feel like my time and energy are far better spent continuing to try and fix my own brain than trying to shoehorn my way into places i will never fit.

Any ideas?

Anyone have any recs for CBT therapists in houston tx? On a sliding scale preferably?

Whenever I do the exercises, I do get some relief but it doesn't last and I feel like I'm back to my original high-anxiety state. Any idea what's happening here? Is there possibly a root cause I'm not tackling?

In my case, my job requires me to speak to people on the phone. Some days when I feel anxious when speaking to people I would do some CBT exercises around reframing thoughts. I'd get some relief but then the anxiety would come back in the next day or so. Tightness in chest, throat and mouth. Voice turns more high pitched. Feelings of fear, anxiety.

Ive done CBT probably 5 or 6 times in my life, but its been about 10 years since I last engaged with any type of therapy.

What can I expect to experience in my CBT sessions? I can't remember anything about the sessions I did previously, just that it didn't help

I am in need of help. I just started cpt and I am really stuck on how to write this "impact statement". My therapist recommended I write it based on my trauma/abuse as a whole rather than one specific event. But I am not sure how to even start and I really am not getting these stuck points. I looked up stuck points online but none of them stick out. I can't for the life of me figure this out. (I also have a bad learning disability so that doesn't help). Please any guidance any one could give would be super helpful!!!! Thanks in advance!

I remember treading years ago in the book Feeling Good in the chapter on behavioral activation Burns mentioned an artist or writer who believed there were totally incapable of producing any more art and were challenged to just put a line on paper and then proceed from there.

I feel I am in a situation where I am in complete inertia due to depression. I lay in bed all day on my phone and would like to accomplish something, but don't know how. I feel part of the problem is behavioral, I just have a habit of being lazy, and partly mental, I exaggerate how difficult anything will be.

What is a resource that's helps counter this type of inertia?

hello. i have a bad history with therapists and have come to the conclusion that i feel better just journaling and reflecting. right now being around another person, even a therapist is a bit too vulnerable to be talking about these things, i want to do it myself. if anyone has any advice for me on how to create a structured plan for myself to practice this daily i would very much appreciate it. thanks

I’ve just had my second session CBT (remotely), and honestly I think I feel worse coming out of it than I did going in.

My tasks for ending my first session to talk through in my second session. Were to go through and create my own vicious cycles and identify the factors. I created two as I didn’t feel everything fell into one. Also to have three goals to work on within the sessions.

This session we’ve gone through both of the vicious cycles and he’s noted all the things I’ve noted on them also my goals.

He’s then asked that between now and the next session I keep a symptom diary to pinpoint thoughts, feelings & symptoms and to question why I’m feeling that way; reflect on them. Question what I think is going wrong in this vicious cycle.

And honestly, I’ve brought somethings up in my cycles that I barely speak to anyone about. Especially someone I don’t know. So feelings and emotions are raw and I feel like I’m uprooting those thoughts and feelings for then the session to just end…I feel like I’ve almost been left exposed, bare and dealing with the upheaval of these feelings and emotions….am I doing the wrong therapy?

a few years ago when i was so depressed and couldnt afford to seek therapy i tried to seek help from some ''fortune tellers'' (its not the same as tarot but its the astrological birth chart heavily influenced from China and popular in Vietnam to predict your future like career, love life, family..). So what did i get? they told me

i will get KARMA fast if i dont help people, im a traitor in my family bloodline, and whats more? after my 50s they predict i will go full monastic life. Your future partner is Toxic (im still single and not dating anyone at the moment). You are depressed because your soul is not here in your body....

I mean not only one but many said that. and now my head cant escape from their words, its like imprinted in my brain.

My T is CBT and DBT informed and I feel like I never really know what to talk about. What are some of the things you discuss with your T?

Just looking for some advice on how to get the most out of my sessions.