Journaling is a highly therapeutic technique that a lot of people use. And it’s beneficial if you’re struggling with your mental health.
Many people may feel ashamed or are unable to share their thoughts, feelings, fears, and struggles with others.
But when you feel restricted or alone, you can always rely on a creative outlet like journaling. Over time, journaling can even be a healing activity.
Journaling prompts for mental health:
17 Positive Journaling Prompts For Mental Health
It can be challenging to remain positive when you struggle with poor mental health.
However, keeping your spirits up can help you to shift your focus onto the better aspects of your life and make you feel happier.
- Describe what gratitude means to you and list everything you’re grateful for.
- Write about your goals and dreams.
- Write about all the positive experiences you had during the day.
- List the things that made you happy today.
- Describe your favorite things. You can describe books, movies, food, and anything else you can think of that you enjoy.
- Make a list of all your positive traits.
- Write about your favorite memory. Try to describe all the sights, sounds, and smells you can remember and how you felt.
- Describe what positivity means to you and list how you try to stay positive.
- Describe what happiness feels like.
- Talk about the people you’re closest to and how they support you.
- Describe the last time you felt truly happy. What made you feel that way?
- Describe your idea of what a perfect day would look like.
- Write a letter to someone that makes you feel happy. Tell your loved one why they make you feel this way and show them your appreciation.
- Choose something positive to focus on this week and write about it. You can also write about how it changed your week when you’re done.
- Write about your perfect vacation. Who would go with you? What would you do?
- Describe your favorite place in the world. Try to describe it using all five senses.
- Make a list of the things that you have. Compare it to what you had five or ten years ago.
19 Healing Journaling Prompts For Mental Health
Journaling can be a therapeutic and transformative experience, especially when you use healing journal prompts that encourage you to be honest about your mental health struggles.
By allowing yourself to be vulnerable and authentic in your writing, you can begin to process your emotions and work towards healing.
- Write about the mental health struggles you’re having. Acknowledge everything you may be dealing with that may be taking a psychological toll on you.
- Write down your coping mechanisms or ones that you want to try.
- Write about what makes you feel anxious or depressed.
- Describe your emotions in as much detail as you can.
- Write yourself a letter to read when you’re having a bad mental health day.
- Write a list of potential triggers that affect your mental health and how you can learn to cope with them.
- Write a letter to yourself. You should forgive yourself for anything you’re holding onto that may make you feel depressed or anxious.
- Write a letter of forgiveness to someone else.
- Write a short story about a traumatic event that you have experienced. Write it from a third-person perspective and be as objective as possible.
- Write a letter to someone that has hurt you. Describe how they made you feel and how they impacted you.
- Write about what your mental health means to you.
- Write about what scares you and why it makes you feel this way.
- Make a list of all your regrets. Why do you regret them? How can you spin these regrets into something positive?
- Write about the last time you struggled with your mental health and how it made you feel. How did you make it through this difficult time?
- Write about what you want people to notice about you that is often overlooked.
- Write a letter to someone struggling with the same things you are. Give them advice on how to cope.
- Write about something difficult you’ve been avoiding.
- Write a letter to yourself at ten years old. Tell them why you love them and how things have changed for you.
- Write a dialogue exchange as if you were at a therapy session. Write down what you would tell your therapist, then write a response from your perspective as if you were the therapist trying to help someone else.
16 Self-Love Journaling Prompts For Mental Health
Self-love journal prompts can be a powerful tool for boosting your self-esteem and lifting yourself up when you’re feeling low. These prompts are designed to help you focus on everything you love and appreciate about yourself, which can help promote a more positive self-image.
So the next time you struggle to love and appreciate yourself, reflect on these prompts:
- Write a love letter to yourself. Try to write it from someone else’s perspective – how would they view you, and what would they like about you?
- Describe your body and focus on the things you like about it.
- Write a letter to your future self. Describe all the things you know you can achieve by that time.
- Write about all the things you did today to show yourself some love.
- Write about your most significant achievement.
- Write about what self-love means to you.
- Write a love poem or song to yourself.
- Write about all the things you think your loved ones love and appreciate about you.
- Make a list of all the self-care activities you want to do for yourself (and then do them!).
- Make a list of things you need right now.
- Make a list of everything you want – no matter how extravagant! Write about why you deserve them.
- Write a letter to your future partner. Tell them about why they should feel lucky to have you and how you deserve to be treated.
- Make a list of the ways you can try to do to take care of yourself each day.
- Plan a day for yourself. Make a list of everything you want to do on this day and where you want to go.
- Look in the mirror and make your cheesiest grin. Write about how a smile changes your face and what you like about your smile.
- Write about the last time you felt safe enough to truly be yourself. Describe what it felt like to let go and just be you.
11 Self-Improvement Journaling Prompts For Mental Health
When you focus on improving yourself, your mental health will follow suit!
Self-improvement isn’t just about trying to learn new skills, though. It’s assessing your current strengths and adding to them through consistency.
- Write about your relationships with others and how you can improve them.
- Make a list of the things you’re working on in yourself (for example, trying to be more positive).
- Describe the hobbies you’d like to try.
- Make a list of all your skills and the ones you still want to learn.
- Write a plan for how you will improve on ten skills you already have. How can you improve on them?
- Write about the lessons you’ve learned on your journey to better mental health.
- Make a list of the most important values to you and describe how you can align your life with them. What would these changes look like?
- Write about what you want your life to look like in five or ten years. Remember to describe how you feel in the future, too. Are you happy? Are you fulfilled?
- Make a list of ten things you want to accomplish. Is there anything stopping you from achieving your goals? How can you overcome these obstacles?
- Describe your perfect career and list the skills you would need for it.
- Plan a daily routine that makes you feel comfortable. Make sure to leave some time for yourself.