Panic Diary
Record panic episodes with triggers, sensations, catastrophic thoughts, safety behaviours, and actual outcomes to identify patterns and build evidence against catastrophic predictions.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Panic Diary
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Panic Episodes
When & Where
Trigger
Body Sensations
Catastrophic Thought
Safety Behaviour & Outcome
When & Where
Trigger
Body Sensations
Catastrophic Thought
Safety Behaviour & Outcome
Patterns
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Choose your bundleWhen to use the Panic Diary
The Panic Diary is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet, most often used in CBT for panic.
It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 10 minutes. It moves through two short steps:
- Panic Episodes
- Patterns
Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.
The CBT approach behind it
In common with other CBT methods, the Panic Diary works by noticing the links between situations, thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviour — and finding practical ways to change unhelpful patterns. The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.
Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.
Evidence & sources
This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:
- Clark, D.M. (1986). A cognitive approach to panic. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24(4), 461-470. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(86)90011-2
- Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders. Chichester: Wiley.
For use alongside professional support
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
If you need urgent help now:
- Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
- Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
- SANEline: 0800 689 5555 — 4:30pm–10:30pm, every day
More Panic Disorder worksheets
View all Panic Disorder worksheets →Panic Disorder
Panic Formulation (Clark)
A formulation based on Clark's cognitive model of panic — mapping the vicious cycle of catastrophic misinterpretation of body sensations.
Panic Disorder
Interoceptive Exposure Record
Log interoceptive exposure exercises that deliberately produce feared body sensations to break the link between sensations and catastrophic interpretations.
Panic Disorder
Panic Thought Challenging Worksheet
Challenge catastrophic misinterpretations of body sensations by examining evidence and generating realistic alternatives.
Panic Disorder
Understanding Panic
A plain-language explainer on panic as a false alarm: how the body's fight-or-flight response, and the way we read its signals, can spiral into a panic attack.
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