27 Best Journaling Prompts For Mental Health

Looking for a mental health boost? Learn how journaling can improve your mental health.

Journaling for your mental health is an incredible way to manage your thoughts and feelings. If you struggle with your mental health, journaling is seriously an ideal way to improve your mental health.

It’s basically free therapy. Like seriously. My own therapist personally recommends me to journal, and I’m sure so many other therapists advise people to journal for their mental health.

I’m naturally someone who unfortunately thinks a lot. Whether it’s about my future, how people see me, or what I’m going to do that day, I think a lot, lol. And for the most part, my thoughts don’t really benefit me, since it just stresses me out even more.

That’s why journaling has helped me so much with managing and regulating my thoughts and emotions. If something is really stressing me out, I’ll write about it. On the other hand, if something made me really happy, I’ll journal it because I want to remember that special moment.

Journaling has been so beneficial for my mental health. I feel less stressed and anxious whenever I journal, so I’m here to share with you these 27 journaling prompts for mental health!

How can journaling help your mental health?

When we get overwhelmed by our emotions and thoughts, one of the best ways to express them is through journaling. Journaling helps manage anxiety, reduce stress, and improve your overall wellbeing.

If you tend to worry or get stressed easily, journaling can be a healthy outlet to recognize your thoughts and identify what’s causing your stress. By identifying the problem, you can create a helpful action plan to reduce your triggers and cope more easily with stress.

Aside from stress and anxiety, journaling also has many other benefits:

Helps track your mental health progress
Improves your writing and social communication skills
Become more emotionally intelligent
Strengthens your memory
Sparks creativity

As you can see, there really are no cons with journaling, except that it can be tiring to write out our thoughts (especially if you have a strong dislike for writing, lol). But no one says journaling has to be 3-4 full pages of writing.

There are so many different journaling options, and I’ll be sharing with you what that looks like. So keep on reading!

Journaling can improve your brain health

A group of neuroscientists conducted a study of 48 Japanese college students, who volunteered to take physical and digital notes regarding a fictional conversation between characters.

The experiment required the students to fill out a multiple choice test, while being inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The scanner was used to detect neuronal activity within areas of the brain.

The researchers found that the volunteers who used a paper notebook to write down their notes completed the multiple choice test 25% faster than those who took digital notes. The study also showed a significant difference in brain activity associated with language and memory between the two groups.

Based on research, neuroscientists determined that not only is writing for learning and memorization encouraged, but also for creative pursuits as well.

So you’re probably wondering: what does this have to do with journaling?

Journaling is definitely a form of writing! The activity in your brain increases when you practice expressive writing, which greatly improves your brain health and working memory.

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How to get started with journaling for mental health

There are definitely so many different types of journals and ways to journal as well. Here is a list of popular journal types that you can consider to best fit your needs. You can always experiment with each one and see which type of journal you prefer!

It might be helpful to do some self reflection and ask yourself which areas of your life do you want to focus on. Do you want to cultivate more gratitude in your life because you tend to struggle with negative thoughts? Or do you want to journal about your health and fitness journey?

There’s honestly a journal for anything because you could literally whip out a spiral notebook and write. You know those college ruled notebooks from the dollar store.

But in case you were curious, here are the most popular journal types to consider if you don’t know where to start!

Gratitude Journal – you can write down 3 things you’re grateful for before you start your day! I personally have a gratitude journal that I write in every morning because it really helps me start the day on a positive note.

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Bullet Journal – bullet journaling is personally my favorite way to journal because I like the freedom of writing down anything that’s on my mind without having lined paper.

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Fitness Journal – This 5-star fitness planner & journal is super popular and pretty. I personally follow the creator behind this planner, Tamara Anthony, and I love her mindset towards health and fitness, so I definitely advocate for all her products!

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Mental Health Wellness Journal – If you’re looking for a mental health journal, this beautiful journal is the one. You can track your sleep and energy levels, as well as habits!

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If you’re really stumped and don’t know which journal to choose, I’d recommend just buying a simple journal from Target or Michaels. Just start simple and from there, you can choose to explore other journaling options!

27 Journaling Prompts For Mental Health

Now that you have a journal, you might be wondering where to start. Choose any writing prompt from this list and allow yourself to write down anything that comes up in your mind.

Here are 27 journal prompts for your mental health:

What do you value in your life?
Write a love letter to yourself.
How do you feel about the pace of your life? Is it too fast, too slow, or just right?
When was the last time you laughed the hardest?
What are 3 things that brought you joy this week?
What do you appreciate most about spending time in nature?
Write a love letter to your body.
What are the things that make you feel alive and happy?
I get anxious when __________.
What would you do differently if you weren’t afraid of failure?
List some of the best decisions you’ve made.
What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?
It’s okay to __________.
What’s something about your body and health that you’re grateful for?
What do you appreciate the most in nighttime?
What is one thing that makes you feel excited and why?
What situations and experiences have you gone through that made it difficult to show self-compassion?
Describe a time when you recently experienced self-love.
List your top 5 accomplishments and things that made you feel the proudest about the past year.
What kind of situations make it hard to feel good about yourself?
What new skill would I like to learn and try?
Write a letter of forgiveness to myself.
List out examples of ways in which you people-please. (at work, relationships, friendship, family, etc)
What books did you enjoy reading as a child?
Name and write about someone you’ve never met, but who has helped your life in some way.
Describe a time you felt especially valued and loved.
Write about a situation when you feel the most alive and entirely able to be yourself.

Frequently asked questions about journaling

Honestly, there’s no best way to journal for your mental health. What works for someone else might not work for you. The goal is to build the practice of journaling, and that takes time and effort. Whether that’s jotting down 3 things you did today or something that’s been on your mind, there is no right or wrong way to journal!

The intention behind journaling is to practice mindfulness while also being present in the moment. You’re essentially writing your thoughts and feelings onto paper, which evokes mindfulness.

To practice journaling your feelings, it’s best to practice writing everyday for at least 20 minutes. If you’re just beginning to journal, I’d recommend slowly building up this habit. So you could start off journaling at least 15 minutes for 3-4x a week, then gradually add in a another day. So on and so forth. And make journaling fun for you. You can draw or write out your feelings. There’s so much freedom and creative that comes with journaling!

The last thing you need to know about journaling for your mental health

I hope these 27 journal prompts will help give your mental health an extra boost! Remember that journaling doesn’t have to be perfect. You have complete freedom over how you choose to journal, so don’t stress!

Have fun with journaling and enjoy the process of it. And if you ever get stuck, feel free to refer back to this list!

I’d love to know – do you practice journaling for your mental health? If so, comment down below because I’d love to hear your thoughts!