Journaling for mental health has been proven time and time again to have important and lasting effects on one's well-being. During stressful times, what healthy coping methods do you use to manage and deal with stress?
If your current methods are getting old, or you feel you're lacking in the 'coping methods department', keeping a journal may be an enriching and self-identifying experience, as well as aid in personal growth and healing. Even a plain ole' notebook will do, all you need is a writing utensil, paper, and the right journal prompts to aid in your treatment and recovery!
Still looking for the right journal? Check out the following, giving a few pretty, botanical journal suggestions, destined to inspire jealous from family and friends, as well as give you the confidence you need to better your mental health!
How Does Journaling Benefit Mental Health?
In a previous post, 11 {Scientifically-Proven} Reasons Journal Prompts Are Essential to Your Mental Health, numerous diverse benefits were discussed from the practice of expressive writing, or writing in a journal (otherwise any personal writing that isn't for a project, work, or school).
The Mental Health Journal Guide for Depression and the Mental Health Journal Guide for Anxiety have both been discussed in separate posts, which you can find the links for below.. These journal guides contain an entire year's worth of mental health prompts to aid in the treatment and recovery of mental illness. Each guide also contains a calendar at the end, laying out each week's prompt for a whole year!
And now, there's a Mental Health Journal Guide for Bipolar Disorder! This is a 60-day guide laying out the journal prompts you need to manage your mental illness and promote well-being.
7 Mental Health Journal Prompts for Stress Relief
1. Finish this sentence, "Right now I feel _____" & finish this sentence as many times as you can! {{you can have multiple sentences, or multiple answers separated by comas}} Follow up with a bullet-point list of stressors.
Examples:
- School (finals)
- Christmas shopping (Need gift guides? See below)
- Work & schedules
- Household responsibilities
- Self-care time management (free weekly planner!)
- Friendships/Relationships
Gift Guides:
2. How do I usually handle stress? Are these coping strategies working? How could I improve or add to my coping strategies to better manage stress?
{{Be bravely honest with yourself}}
3. What are some things/people/opportunities/privileges/everyday occurrences I am grateful for? How do these positively impact my life and why am I grateful for them?
{{List as many as you can, the more the better!}}
Don't know why gratitude improves mental health and reduces stress? Then don't miss How Gratitude Improves Your Mental Health, explaining exactly how it works!
4. List all your current self-care activities, big and small. Observe how many you have and decide if these are enough to support your health, using ✔s and ✕s next to the numbers. If not, add a second list of new ideas!
{{If you need self-care inspo, see the self-care page}}
5. Take a body sensations inventory; is your stress causing muscle tension anywhere in your body? Are you grinding your teeth, biting your lips, biting your nails, etc. List the places you notice stress taking an effect on your body, and make one small goal to address a body tension, etc.
{{Mindfulness is a great way to observe stress effects on the body}}
6. Write out a list of things you need to do. Then, rewrite the list in order of priority.
{{time, importance, etc.}}
7. If you could imagine any scenario (real or imaginary) to place yourself in, that would provide ultimate relaxation and peace, what would that look like?
{{Describe this place with as much detail as possible, use adjectives and familiar concepts so it's easy to place yourself in this scenario!}}
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