50 Awesome Mental Health Writing Prompts
Mental health is just as important as physical health. As a result, it is a good idea for you to familiarize yourself with some easy ways to work on your mental health. One excellent example is writing, which is about as accessible as these things get.
The Conversation says numerous studies have concluded that doing so has positive effects on your mental health, though the exact reason is uncertain. One line of speculation is that it helps because it increases self-awareness, while another line of speculation is that it helps because it serves as a psychological release.
Whatever the case, the Harvard Business Review states writing can help you think, relieve your stress, relieve your anxiety, improve your sleep, and otherwise bolster your well-being. Put together, these things mean you should check out some mental health writing prompts to get started sooner rather than later.
If you are interested, you can use these 50 awesome mental health writing prompts:
1. Name Something You Like About Yourself
The Cleveland Clinic claims positive affirmations are helpful. As a result, you can benefit by writing about something you like about yourself.
2. Name Something You Are Grateful For
On a similar note, you can also put yourself in a better mood by writing about something you are grateful for.
3. What Are Your Favorite Personality Traits?
Self-awareness is important. Due to this, you should spend some time thinking about which of your personality traits you like the most.
4. What Are Your Least Favorite Personality Traits?
The reverse would be thinking about which of your personality traits you like the least.
5. What Personality Traits Do You Look For in Your Friends?
Thinking about something indirectly can lead to unexpected insights. Think about what personality traits you look for in your friends, which could shed some light on your thinking when you go around socializing.
6. What Personality Trait Do You Look For in Your Significant Others?
Much the same is true when you ponder what personality traits draw you to your significant others.
7. Name Something That Made You Feel Happy Today
As mentioned earlier, positivity can be beneficial. To capitalize on this, write about something that made you happy today.
8. Name Something That Made You Feel Relaxed Today
Knowing what makes you feel relaxed can be just as useful as knowing what makes you happy. Write about something that made you feel relaxed today to get a better understanding of your situation.
9. When Are You At Your Happiest?
Of course, you can also get insight into how you function by thinking about the moments that put you in your best moods.
10. When Are You At Your Most Relaxed?
You can get similar insight by thinking about what makes you the most relaxed you can be.
11. Name Something Good You Did For Someone Else
Interested individuals can have a fascinating philosophical debate about whether doing good makes someone good. The more relevant point in this context is that Livescience and other sources agree that doing good makes people feel good. Better still, you can get a boost by reminding yourself of something good you have done for someone else.
12. Are You Happy With Your Relationship?
It is wise to reevaluate your relationships from time to time. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a romantic relationship. Other relationships can have just as big of an effect on you as your romantic relationship.
13. What Is Something Working Well in Your Relationship?
Figuring out what is working with your relationship is beneficial if you want those things to happen again and again.
14. What Is Something Not Working Well in Your Relationship?
Similarly, figuring out what isn’t working with your relationship is beneficial because you want to identify those things for prevention.
15. Are There Any Boundaries You Can Set to Make Your Relationship More Comfortable?
HelpGuide and similar resources offer information on setting healthy boundaries in relationships. You should check them out to see if you could make your relationship more comfortable by following some of these recommendations.
16. What Do You Fear the Most?
Having fears is normal. When you name them, you empower yourself to better come to grips with them.
17. Is Your Fear a Rational Fear?
Some fears are very rational. Others are less so. Figuring out whether your worst fear is rational or irrational can give you the power to bring it under control.
18. When Was the Last Time You Cried?
Writing about the last time you cried can help you become more in touch with your feelings.
19. When Was the Last Time You Laughed?
The same is true when you write about the last time you laughed.
20. Write About a Difficult Experience
We can learn much from our experiences. The most challenging ones are no exception to this rule. As such, consider writing about one of your most difficult experiences.
21. How Did You Cope With That Difficult Experience?
Naturally, it is also a good idea to think about how you managed to cope with these moments.
22. What Is the Best Part About Your Work?
Work is a significant part of most people’s lives. As a result, any attempt at improving self-awareness means thinking about it at some length. One of the most important questions would be asking yourself what you enjoy about your work.
23. What Is the Worst Part About Your Work?
Conversely, another important question would be asking yourself what you don’t enjoy about your work.
24. Is There Anything You Can Do to Make Your Work More Enjoyable For You?
It is worth asking yourself whether there is anything you can do to make your work more enjoyable for you. Large changes for large benefits are best. However, even small changes for small benefits can help out.
25. Name a Mistake You Have Made
No one is perfect. As such, everyone has made mistakes at some point. There is no shame in admitting that.
26. Write Yourself a Letter of Forgiveness For Your Mistake
With that said, you shouldn’t treat yourself too harshly for your mistakes. That is particularly true if you risk entering a downward spiral of self-doubt. Consider writing yourself a letter of forgiveness so that you can let go.
27. Name a Place That Makes You Feel Relaxed
It is normal for people to have places that make them feel more relaxed than others. Try to think of the locations that make you feel this way.
28. Why Does That Place Make You Feel Relaxed?
Once you have done so, consider why these places make you feel relaxed even though other locations do not.
29. Name Someone Who Motivates You
CareerAddict and other sources point out that a well-motivated person tends to be a happier, more successful person. If you want to stay motivated, think about someone who has that effect on you.
30. Name Something That Motivates You
Likewise, think about something that keeps your motivation high. This could be something profound. Alternatively, this could be something simple or even silly that nonetheless possesses the power to keep you on course.
31. How Was Your Day?
Writing a daily journal entry can help interested individuals make sense of their experiences.
32. What Is One of Your Goals?
You might prefer a more structured life. If so, you would do well to set goals for yourself.
33. How Do You Plan On Fulfilling This Goal?
Goals are abstract enough that you might struggle to fulfill them. Fortunately, you can break down goals into a series of concrete steps, thus giving yourself a rough plan to work with.
34. How Much Progress Have You Already Made Towards Fulfilling This Goal
Working towards long-term goals is challenging. You should review the progress you have already made if you want to keep yourself well-motivated. It is an easy way of reminding yourself of your successes.
35. Name One Way You Made Progress Towards This Goal Today
If you want to keep yourself motivated, write about how you have progressed towards your goal today. It doesn’t have to be a big step. Even something as simple as working to provide yourself with the necessities of life can count. After all, fulfilling goals tends to be much easier when people are alive and well.
36. What Emotions Did You Feel Today?
Any attempt at self-assessment should include an attempt at understanding your emotions. Start by describing the ones you feel daily.
37. Why Did You Feel the Emotions You Felt Today?
Follow by thinking about why you felt each of the emotions you have described daily. By doing so, you can better understand why you feel the way you do.
38. What Is the Nicest Thing Someone Has Said About You?
Unsurprisingly, people enjoy compliments. Keep yourself motivated by thinking about the nicest thing someone has said about you.
39. What Is the Nicest Thing Someone Has Done For You?
People also tend to enjoy other people doing things for them. You can also keep yourself motivated by thinking about the nicest thing someone has done for you.
40. Write a Letter of Encouragement For When You Have a Bad Day
Everyone has a bad day from time to time. The critical issue is how well you can bounce back from it. You might find it beneficial to write a letter of encouragement beforehand, which you can read when you feel down and defeated.
41. What Is Your Favorite Memory?
Thinking about fond memories is a good way for people to make themselves happy. Writing about your favorite should give you the best results.
42. What Makes It Your Favorite Memory?
Of course, understanding why you enjoy this memory can help you seek out things you like while avoiding things you don’t like.
43. Name Something That Makes You Anxious
Everyone has things that make them anxious. Knowing what gives you anxiety should put you in a better position to deal with them.
44. How Did You Cope With This Thing That Makes You Anxious?
For instance, you can think about how you coped with these things when you experienced them. Furthermore, you can think of ways to improve on those coping methods.
45. How Do You Cope in General?
On a related note, consider your general coping methods for stressful situations. That way, you will be ready to calm yourself in the most effective manner possible if you need to.
46. Write a Letter to Someone Who Helped You
It is good to express emotions rather than keep them bottled up. Consider writing a letter to someone who has helped you.
47. Write a Letter to Someone Who Hurt You
Alternatively, you can write a letter to someone who has hurt you. Please note that you don’t necessarily need to send these letters. Instead, the act of writing them is enough to help.
48. Name a Risk You Want to Take
People take risks for a wide range of reasons. Sometimes, they think the risk-taking will be fun. Other times, they believe that risk-taking will offer different rewards. Ask yourself if there are any risks you want to take but haven’t.
49. What Is Preventing You From Taking This Risk?
The next step would be to ask yourself what is preventing you from taking this risk. In some cases, you are being sensible. However, it is also possible that you are being held back by less reasonable factors. Evaluating the situation is critical for determining which one is true for you, thus empowering you to gain more control over your life.
50. What Is Your Favorite Work?
Good books, movies, and other works can make people happy. If you know what you like, you can use these things to put yourself in a better mood when something drags your down.
You can also read:
- 50 Awesome Argumentative Writing Prompts
- 50 Awesome Persuasive Writing Prompts
- 50 Awesome Memoir Writing Prompts
- 50 Awesome Dialogue Writing Prompts
- What is Permissive Parenting and Should You Try It?
