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In this era, taking care of your mental health has become a priority, and rightly so, it is very crucial. Your guide for mental health journal prompts you to try self-care and better mental health.
Read on to find out more!
10 Mental Health Journal Prompts For Better Mental Health
Lord Buddha once said, ”No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.”
There are times when we feel heavy inside as if all the weight of the universe has been put on our chest, and sometimes we try to bottle it up, or in some cases, we pour our heart out as if there is no tomorrow.
Some days feel so hard that it puts you on edge until you don’t acknowledge them; even the basic routine of life seems to be a burden slowly, you even feel difficulty waking from the bed and showering, let alone doing some extra work or going to the office.
People suffer from mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and whatnot, and self-care is needed for these dark times.
All the emotions, at last, are what make us human.
Mental health has become an essential aspect of life, and it has been becoming more significant with the upcoming generations. People have started accepting that mental illness1 is real and that depression and anxiety are real.
Indeed, self-reflection is essential as it helps us learn, appreciate people and ourselves, and bring a different perspective to our lives. These days many mental health advocates advocate and guide us to take care of ourselves always.
They tell us to try meditation, take some extra help from a psychologist, talk to close people and try journal writing.
In older times, and today too, people tend to pour their hearts out on a sheet of paper that used to bleed with emotions and vulnerability. That journal entry had victories, defeats, heartbreaks, and whatnot?
You may have heard of journal writing but are not well aware of starting it or don’t know what to write.
We are here to tell you some good mental health journal prompts and how to write in a self-care journal that can make you feel good from inside and out.
How to Write in a Self-Care Journal?
You may have seen people when they meditate. They go to quiet places or meditation centers that teach them how to meditate as an amateur.
Like writing a mental health journal, you must create a safe space to write more efficiently and calm anxiety.
But if you can’t find one, it is okay too. Just start, and the rest of it will naturally follow you. Your feelings will come running to you eventually.
Take a deep breath and try to connect with your inner self. What does your body needs for self-care? Write how you feel at that exact moment. Do you feel happy, sad, anxious, or cheerful? What your inner child wants.
Your daily journal entries will surely answer you, and you will thank yourself in the coming future.
Now, let’s move on to the answers you have in yourself somewhere deeper. You don’t know how to let it out.
Top Mental Health Journal Prompts
1. What do I Want to be for Myself?
In a beginning, start writing about yourself, and what kind of person you are, don’t ever think of yourself as some horrible person. Remember that not a single person is awful on this planet; it’s the mental health conditions2 that push us on edge, making us feel terrible.
We have to throw this demon to the side. If you want to be happy, write, “I want to be happy, and for that, I will not let my negative emotions control me, it’s okay if I feel negative or feel angry, but I won’t let it control me.”
If you feel sad, write, “I feel sad today, and for that, I will take care of myself, validate my emotions, and acknowledge them. I will take myself for a walk today, have self-talk, get a shower, read a good book and try to meditate.”
Some of you may feel what are we doing. It is just a waste of time, but it is not. You can write anything in your mood tracker journal.
These types of therapeutic journal prompts help your inner child activate, giving us a feeling that your emotions are being heard. Self-care is all about taking care of yourself without any guilt and shame.
2. Write Journal Prompts About Something you are Proud of
We all have done something we are proud of. Even doing the basic chores can be included in the list of accomplishments.
Like think, you got out of your bed, took a shower, ate something healthy, went to school or the office, took care of your kids, and took care of yourself. Doing the daily journal helps us acknowledge the proud moments that we don’t appreciate as much as we should.
You can write, “I got a certificate in an ABC competition when I was a child,” or you can mention, “I helped my mom or sister wash dishes, cleaned my room today, did my self-care routine, or made a cake or anything that you like.”
Describe how you made it the best part you loved the most.
The little things can help you grow and explore a hidden part of yourself. The things you consider as basics make you a good person as it pushes you to be a better person.
Doing this type of journal entry helps personal development and shapes you for the future. So. whenever you feel anxious, just let it out.
3. Who is the Person in Your Life you are Grateful for?
We all have an important person in our lives for that we are grateful. When we are in our darkest times, a small hug can make us happy and let us see the light coming.
You can thank yourself just for existing. You can be grateful for a friend of yours who helped you when you were stuck on assignments.
You can be grateful for your sister who helped you sneak out and had a bash outside, your mom who took care of you when you vomited at 3 in the morning, or you can be grateful for yourself too.
Writing a gratitude journal has a big impact on mental well-being. It encourages self-esteem, and showing gratitude and acknowledging them is a great act of kindness. Just saying, “Hey, thank you for doing this for me,” can make a person happy from the inside.
These prompts for mental health will help your mood to alleviate and make you feel happy and contended.
4. Describe in Journal Prompts a Place That Makes you Happy
Some places make us feel so happy that it turns out to be our favourite spot. It could be any space or place, whether a library, coffee shop, local book store, friend’s place, park, or workplace.
These types of journal prompts for mental health help us to appreciate the local places that make us feel that we are in a safe place.
Imagine being in a library and reading a book as you forget about the world outside. Your negative thoughts fly miles away from you or imagine sitting in a park as you look up to the sky appreciating nature, and all the anxious thoughts that you keep on having naturally disappeared.
Even when you are home, writing journal entries can help you feel pleased, improving your mental health.
5. In What Ways you have Grown as a Person?
There were times when we used to feel underconfident or scared, so you can write about how you have grown as a person. Like, write a full story in your mental health journal that “I used to be scared of people’s judgment when I was a child, but now I am not scared anymore.”
You can write about your negative self too. It’s okay if you have done something that you are guilty of, and now you feel that you were not a good person in the past.
Take your pen out and pour it, write like, “I used to judge people’s appearances or their capabilities, but now I have grown as a good person, and I don’t judge people anymore, I appreciate who they are who they want to be and don’t care how they look.”
This journaling will help you see what kind of person you have become.
You can write a love letter to your teenage self that what happened was not your fault. You were exploring and not aware of the world as much as you now. But now you are growing and growing better.
Whether you have grown academically, emotionally, or physically, all the things are acceptable as far as they make you feel blissful and peppy. Add these types of things to your daily routine. Writing these daily journal prompts helps you accept who you were and are.
6. Write the Qualities that you Like in Yourself
On a blank page, make a start. We all are well aware of qualities that we love and embrace. For instance, write, “I draw very well, I am a creative person, a good listener, a good problem solver, academically good, good sportsperson, or anything.”
Describe how it makes you feel and what is the one thing that makes this important. Writing these things will help boost your self-confidence, and you will know what you are capable of.
Even if doing these makes you happy, don’t let anyone tell you that these things are common. You matter, and your capabilities matter.
This therapy journal will become your long-term best friend, and all your secrets will be secured by it. These writing prompts help us cope with triggered feelings as we sometimes feel we are not worth it, but we are.
You know how to appreciate art, and the people around you, and how to love people. It creates a positive impact on our lives.
7. What do I Need to Forgive Myself for?
Forgiveness is such a small act, but it can create a huge impact on our lives. We, human beings, learn from mistakes, so it is okay if you have made mistakes in the past.
We have to focus on the outcomes of the mistakes and how they helped make us better. We all have been through a tough time that we can never forget, but they have taught us many life lessons.
Open your self-care journal and write that you forgive yourself for those minor mistakes, for the people you have mistreated, for failed relationships, for not taking care of yourself, and for not prioritizing yourself.
Write and describe what happened in the past and how it happened. We should learn to acknowledge the good and bad times.
Forgive yourself while writing your mistakes, pour your feeling into the journal, and let a good cry if you need to. Your journal will never judge you.
8. What is the Most Challenging Thing to Overcome
Our life has never-ending experiences, some we embrace and relish for life, and some of them we don’t even want to recall. You can write your past experiences in a short story and think about how this helped you become a strong person and overcome your anxiety.
You may want to describe how you overcame the fear of swimming or want to overcome the fear of swimming.
You can write a short story about how you overcame the fear of speaking in public, or you can write about how the daily routine of life scared and overwhelmed you, and you overcame it by taking baby steps.
9. What Habits do I Need to Give up?
Our habits decide how we carry on with our life. Sometimes, we cannot explore, grow, and move forward with our life due to our bad habits.
It can be drinking or excessive smoking, waking up late, going late to bed, not eating on time, skipping meals, and other forms of bad habits that keep us stuck. Bad habits are the factors that lead us to depression, stress, and anxiety and make us feel underconfident in ourselves.
Start writing about all the bad habits you need to give up to live your life healthily. You are the one who will be responsible for your future. Please write a letter to your future self about how you look up to them as a better person as you are your inspiration.
Also, things start to become clearer when you write your thoughts and affirmations in journal prompts, so pay attention to every detail!
10. What are the Things that Drain My Energy?
Some things are responsible for draining our energy, like socializing too much, being on the phone for endless hours, doing something to meet those unrealistic expectations, working in an unclean environment, and trying to please others.
These out factors affect our mental health3 in big ways. Write these down in your journal and discuss how you can improve it all.
Stop pleasing people around you, be yourself so that people around can be themselves. Creating a safe place for yourself and other people can help your working space grow in a better and healthy way.
Tell yourself that you will not use your phone for unnecessary things and meet unrealistic expectations.
These journal prompts for mental health will help you overcome all the issues you have been suffering from. One positive word can make a huge impact on our lives, allow us to de-stress, and let us grow and improve as a person.
You have to learn to prioritize yourself and stop comparing yourself. Yes, you can look up to people who you find inspiring, but don’t let their lives control you.
You are the one who will shape your life, and for that, we have to take care of ourselves. Your life is beautiful in your way, and, indeed, you will achieve what you desire by taking baby steps.
Bottom Line: Must Use Journal Prompts
Remember that small achievement is worth celebrating as the bigger ones. So, appreciate and take care of yourselves and stay kind. Listed above are some mental health journal prompts that you must use and let us know your experience in the comments!
And continue your journey with journaling!
Also, check out the importance of acknowledgment in relationships.
- Kravetz, Shlomo, Miriam Faust, and Michal David. “Accepting the mental illness label, perceived control over the illness, and quality of life.” Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 23.4 (2000): 323. ↩︎
- Drew, Natalie, and Michelle Funk. Mental health and development: targeting people with mental health conditions as a vulnerable group. World Health Organization, 2010. ↩︎
- Miller, Matthew J., et al. “Racial and cultural factors affecting the mental health of Asian Americans.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 81.4 (2011): 489. ↩︎
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