Journaling can have a hugely beneficial impact on our own mental health and state of mind and there are so many benefits of writing down our feelings. I’ve dabbled on and off with journaling for the past few years. Writing every day then going months without writing a thing. It’s important to find a journaling strategy and routine that works for you because some people simply don’t have time to hand write pages and pages every day. Which is where these 30 journal prompts for mental health will come in!

journal prompts for mental health

If you do struggle with time but want to get the benefits of journaling, sticking to journal prompts can be a really good idea. Journal prompts are basically questions that you can answer in your journal every day. I think prompts are great because let’s face it… some days, you just don’t know what to say.

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On MANY occasion, my journal entry for the day has been, “got up early, did some exercise, going to work for the rest of the day”. And I mean, that’s not benefiting me at all is it? I’m not getting any of the benefits of journaling from just stating those boring facts. And it’s a waste of time.

Journal prompts for mental health are a great idea because it’s definitely known that journaling can improve your mental health and give you a safe space to write about how you feel without judgment. But, as anyone with a mental illness knows, it can get overwhelming. So sometimes, we might need a little helping hand. Which is where journal prompts for mental health come in nicely.

So if you want to start journaling and getting those amazing benefits from it but you simply don’t know where to start or what to say, check out these 30 journal prompts for mental health to get you started. 

journal prompts for mental health

30 Journal Prompts For Mental Health:

1. How do you feel right now?
2. What is making you feel how you feel right now?
3. If you could change one thing about how you feel right now, what would it be?
4. Explain one thing that you’re grateful for right now
5. Explain the sensations in your body right now – be specific
6. Write down one worry you have right now
7. Now write down 3 logical ways to think about that worry
8. What do you need to let go of in your life right now?
9. What can you do to improve your mental health today?
10. Write down 3 things that you achieved today and how they made you feel

Journal Prompts For Mental Health

11. Talk about the happiest time of your life
12. When was the last time you did something for you?
13. What has a positive effect on your life and why?
14. How do you feel when you consider therapy or treatment for mental illness?
15. Think about the last time you were anxious that turned out to be nothing to worry about. How did that feel?
16. What did you learn from your biggest failure in life?
17. Talk about 3 things that make you seriously happy
18. How would you describe the state of your mental health to a stranger?
19. If you had to explain how to look after your mental health to an alien, what would you say?
20. If money was no object, what would you do / buy to make yourself happy?

21. Talk about one of your biggest fears. Be honest
22. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about having good mental health?
23. What triggers your anxiety / depression? How can you manage that?
24. Think about someone who has negatively impacted your mental health. Write them a letter
25. What was a turning point for your mental health?
26. How does social media make you feel?
27. What’s your thoughts on body image?
28. Is there anything good about anxiety? Think!
29. Write 5 things you love about yourself and explain why
30. Write a letter to God / the Universe or whatever you believe in about your mental health

There’s lots of different aspects of mental health to work through in these journal prompts for mental health. Which I think is important because it allows us to explore different aspects of our mental health, not just the obvious.

It allows us to dig deeper and whilst answering these journal prompts, it’s likely that you’ll uncover some stuff (not always good stuff) that will benefit you in the long run.

So whether you try a journaling challenge and answer one of these every day or dip into them occasionally when you’re struggling to figure out what to write (or even what to think), I hope you found these journal prompts for mental health useful.

Over to you. Do you write in a journal? Do you ever follow journal prompts? Let me know!

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104 Comments

  1. This is great! Thank you so much for sharing. Some days I pull out my journal and I feel utter frustration. I’m bookmarking this page for the next time I have one of those days. <3

  2. This couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m planning on starting a bullet journal in the new year – not necessarily an every day one, but one with prompts for talking about my mental health and wellness. Plans for recovery etc. Love all of these and will defo be using them. x

  3. Hi Jenny, thanks for the tips. I’ve been a journaling wanna be in the sense that I haven’t had the discipline to do it consistently. I guess this will be a new years’ resolution for 2021. Happy holidays!

  4. These are great prompts! I haven’t used any to write, *yet*. But I did pause and use several of them for reflection.

  5. thanks alot for these handy tips..
    i too have been dilly dallying journaling for a while because some days there is nothing to pen down in my diary.I just sit there staring the blank sheet.
    I believe these prompts would now give me a headstart.Thanks again!!❤

  6. I haven’t journaled in way too long. I started the year actively journaling every day and then the pandemic happened and I felt like my life was too boring to document. HOWEVER – journaling for the purpose of mental health is a great idea. I absolutely love your prompts and I’m feeling very inspired to get back into journaling again!

  7. I love prompts in both creative writing and journaling as a way to explore my immediate feelings and thoughts. This is an amazing list to unearth new feelings or buried thoughts on the blank page!

  8. I’ve been wanting to start a journal for my mental health, but never knew where to start. Therefore I want to say thanks for this amazing post and inspirational prompts as it has helped me a lot!

    Love Demi xo

  9. These are so helpful, thank you Jenny! I always struggle with what to write and do end up writing the same things all the time, especially since going into lockdown 🤦‍♀️ I’ll have to print these out ❤️

  10. I’ve never really tried journaling before but I do think that it will be really good idea. I bet it would be a really good way at getting all your thoughts out by writing them down x

  11. Love these prompts. I’ve been slacking on my journaling and would love to get back into it. It’s a great outlet!

  12. These are some brilliant prompts, Jenny. I have a gratitude journal but I don’t always write in it every day because, you know, life has that bad habit of getting in the way! Some of these prompts are ones I can use as well but I’m sure these will be a huge help to anyone who’s either getting started or has hit that impasse. Thank you for sharing! xx

    Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com

  13. I think writing things down is really important for my mental health- at the moment I’m very prone to over-thinking and I’ll make the odd note when something is on my mind and then look at it whenever I need to talk myself down and remember that everything is okay- no need to overthink! So I think getting into a proper journaling routine would benefit my health 🙂 thank you for sharing these prompts x

  14. These are such great journal prompts! I habemt kept one in ages but am thinking that I really should keep track of my thoughts and feelings so I can learn to overcome my anxiety and function better on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes I let things get on top of me and it isn’t good for my mental health at all.

    Hmm…if money was no object, I’d charter a (sterile, socially-distanced) jet for myself and my family to Vietnam! We lived there two years ago and were the happiest we’d been in a while. We’d love to bring our baby boy back and make it home in a beautiful apartment overlooking our city!

    Bianca xx | http://www.missmonro.com

      1. Thank you so much, Jenny! My fiancé and I taught ESL English in Ho Chi Minh City and had an absolute blast – it’s such an enormous, exciting place! 😊 I’ve been thinking that I should write a Vietnam Travel series! Thanks for the suggestion! Xx

  15. I do write in a journal, but not as regularly as I should. I used to write in one every day for years and years and I don’t know really how I got out of the habit. These prompts are very good ones! They are open ended and that’s important too so thoughts and emotions can just flow and be expressed.

    Giulia tidbitsofcare.com

  16. Journaling is something I have wanted to do for a while now but just haven’t gotten around to it. I love the idea of it and you have given some great ideas for prompts, I’ll definitely have to take up journaling soon!x

  17. I keep a journal and it is really helpful for my mental health specially these days. I don’t write in it everyday as I would have wanted to though. These journal prompts might help me for times when I want to write but just don’t know what to say.

    Liz
    http://www.piecesofliz.com

  18. I started journalling but stopped due to lack of time. It’s definitely something I should make time for! I’m adding it to my to do list from now on! Thanks for sharing!

  19. These are great prompts, Jenny! I’ve always found journalling difficult because I’d just write “did x, did y” like you said – but some prompts could be really helpful to get into writing something that might benefit me! xx

  20. Useful to have some tips, because like you mentioned just writing down day to day routine can get boring and not motivating to keep doing it.

    Asking how to improve mental health today is a good question, as it’s quite easy for moods to slip – I find one day I’m fine, others days not so much.

    In respect to number 30, I often write letters to my kids, imagining they are adults reading back my words, sometimes it can help clarify my thoughts and justify why I did a certain action or have a particular belief.

    Thank you for sharing!

  21. I love this. My anxiety is really up at the moment and it’s really getting to me (not sleeping etc) but I’ve never really tried journaling because of not knowing where to start. There’s some great starting points here, think I’m going to give it a try – thanks!

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