38 Journaling Prompts to Improve Your Mental Health
Guided journaling is an incredible way for anyone to improve their mental health, whether it’s maintaining their current positive mood, boosting it when needed, or discovering and working through problems as they arise. While there are plenty of reasons to go to therapy with a registered counsellor or psychotherapist, keeping a journal is a form of daily therapy that everyone can benefit from.
Today, we’re sharing thirty-eight of our favourite journaling prompts on the topic of mental health to make keeping a journal on your journey to self-discovery.
On maintaining your mental health
1. Am I doing enough acts of self-love and self-care?
2. How can I improve my daily routine to make my life even better?
3. Am I doing anything that might hinder my mental health down the road?
4. What are the five things I value most about myself?
5. How do I deal with stress best? What are some situations where I don’t deal with stress well?
6. What things are making me happiest right now?
7. What has helped me get to this point of emotional stability in my life?
8. Who values my mental health the most?
9. What qualities do I find most important in my closest relationships?
10. What can I discuss with my therapist during our next session together?
11. How can I better balance my relationship with my responsibilities?
12. What are the best ways that I can discuss my feelings with my partner?
On boosting your mental health
13. What is the biggest thing impairing my mental health at the moment?
14. Could I seek help from an outside source (for example, a therapist or a trusted friend)?
15. Are there any self-care apps I can download to help me stay on top of my mental health?
16. Is there anyone in my life who is hindering my emotional well-being?
17. Have I set unrealistic goals for myself? Is not meeting them affecting my mental health?
18. In what ways can I start prioritizing my well-being?
19. How are my current habits negatively affecting my mental health?
20. Am I experiencing any negative thoughts?
21. What’s one thing in my life that I want to change, that I can work on changing right now?
On discovering what is affecting you
22. Are there problems in my personal life that are causing emotional trauma?
23. Are there any essential relationship boundaries I’m failing to set with the people in my life?
24. What is a negative thought that has been continuously on my mind lately?
25. Have I been experiencing symptoms related to a diagnosed mental illness?
26. In what ways have I recently denied acknowledging my feelings from myself?
27. What are some important topics regarding my emotions that I can bring up to my therapist during our next session?
28. Is anything ‘small’ bothering me that I can let go of for the time being, while I work on improving my mental health?
29. In what ways is my mental illness affecting my sex life?
30. What are some potential causes behind my decreased libido?
On working through a problem
31. What is the biggest problem that I am facing right now?
32. In what ways can I tackle this big problem in small, manageable steps?
33. How have I stopped myself from making emotional progress in the past, and how can I avoid repeating these things now?
34. Who can I turn to for emotional support while I get through this challenging period in my life?
35. Can I look at my current problem from another angle (that can help me work through it more easily)?
36. Have I been talking to my partner about my needs?
37. If I’m feeling a relationship strain with my partner, how could couples therapy help us?
38. In what ways can I take a break from my current stresses to decompress and focus on self-care?
Regardless of your reason for guided journaling, following the above journaling prompts is an excellent form of daily therapy to guide you through a journey of self-discovery. With mental health being such an important part of our existence, maintaining it and improving it whenever possible is crucial. It will help us be the very best versions of ourselves.
Do you practise keeping a journal as a part of your daily therapy? Do you find that utilizing journaling prompts (or guided journaling) helps on your journey of self-discovery? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
