Sorry for the basic question, but how do you actually start one of these diaries?

Read methods.

It gets smaller. Not easy, smaller. That distinction kept me going.

I would stop trying to convey how bad it is and start saying what you want them to do.

The last ten percent of a taper takes as long as the first ninety. Nobody says so until you are in it.

If it came with a repeat slip, the slip beats every database.

Sleep first. Bad night, bad day, more symptoms. Fix that before changing anything else.

No wrong answers, and yours is a good one.