⚡ Promptolis Original · Wellness & Health
🌅 Mental Health Morning Check-In — 5-Minute Practice
5 minutes each morning. Baseline data for your mental health over time. Pattern visibility matters more than perfect practice.
Why this is epic
Mental health pattern visibility is underrated. You can't manage what you can't see. A 5-min morning check-in over 30 days reveals patterns (week-2 dip, afternoon slumps, trigger-state combinations) that invisible-to-you emotional patterns otherwise stay invisible.
Short enough to actually do daily. Longer check-ins feel good but don't sustain. 5 min = sustainable = data accumulates = patterns visible.
Rating-based structure for quick capture + open text for narrative. Numbers track trend; words capture nuance. Both matter.
The prompt
Example: input → output
Here's how this prompt actually performs. Real input below, real output from Claude Opus 4.
<diagnosis-or-concern>Diagnosed with bipolar II, stable on lamotrigine for 18 months. Have had 2 depressive episodes in that time; no hypomania since diagnosis</diagnosis-or-concern> <current-treatment>Weekly therapy + lamotrigine via psychiatrist (quarterly visits)</current-treatment> <specific-tracking-need>Mood charting — need to catch early signs of episodes (depressive OR hypomanic) before they're in full swing</specific-tracking-need>
Your Morning Check-In Structure
Rating Section (90 sec)
Rate each 1-10 (1 = lowest/worst, 10 = highest/best):
- Mood (not energy — distinct): where's your overall mood baseline this morning?
- Energy: how energized or fatigued does your body feel?
- Sleep quality last night (not just hours — quality): 1 = awful, 10 = deeply restorative
- Sleep hours: approximate number (critical for bipolar — <6 hours can trigger hypomania; >10 can trigger depression)
- Anxiety level: how anxious do you feel this morning?
- Spoken word count yesterday (roughly): 1 = silent/isolated, 10 = high-output day. (Hypomania warning sign when trending up unexpectedly)
No calibration needed — your consistent ratings over time matter more than objective accuracy.
Brief Narrative (90 sec)
One to three sentences on any of:
- What was notable about sleep? Dreams vivid or strange? Woke up multiple times? Went to bed unusually late/early?
- What's one thought that showed up first thing this morning? (Neutral observation, not analysis)
- Any physical symptom worth noting? (Headache, body tension, heart rate awareness, restlessness)
- If medication adjusted recently: how are you feeling different from last week?
Tomorrow Anchor (60 sec)
For bipolar stability: your anchor isn't 'productivity goal.' Your anchor is:
- Sleep target for tonight: specific bedtime + wake time. Consistent sleep/wake is the #1 stability factor in bipolar.
- Social contact for today: plan one conversation minimum (call, text exchange, in-person). Isolation is bipolar depression's companion.
- Medication reminder: if you take it at a specific time, write the time. Non-negotiable.
Weekly Review Protocol (Sunday Evening, 10 min)
Look at your 7 days of data together:
Mood trend: rating values plotted. Is this week stable around your baseline (3-6 is typical between episodes), trending down (4 → 3 → 3 → 2), trending up unexpectedly (5 → 7 → 8 → 9)?
Sleep pattern: hours + quality. Two consecutive nights <6 hours = hypomania warning. Consecutive nights >10 hours = depression warning.
Energy vs. mood alignment: normally they track together. Divergence (energy high + mood low = mixed state; energy low + mood high = early depression masking) is clinically important. Flag to therapist/psychiatrist.
Spoken word count: increasing sharply over days = potential hypomania. Decreasing = potential depression.
Narratives across 7 days: any repeated themes? Sleep issues 4 nights? Anxiety spikes 3 mornings? Pattern > single day.
What to Bring to Therapy / Psychiatrist
To therapist weekly: last 7 days of mood + energy + sleep. Pattern observations. Any concerning trajectory.
To psychiatrist quarterly: last 90 days as chart. Any episode activation or threshold crossing. Medication compliance. Side effects. Lamotrigine adjustments based on data.
Bipolar psychiatrists specifically use mood charts diagnostically. Your 90-day data is more useful than retrospective memory.
If Patterns Become Concerning
Early hypomania signals (any 3 of these for 3+ consecutive days):
- Sleep decreasing without tiredness (6 hours and feels fine)
- Spoken word count rising (you're talking more than normal)
- Mood consistently above your baseline (7s and 8s)
- Energy unusual (accomplishing a lot)
- New projects / ideas / plans emerging
→ Contact psychiatrist within 72 hours. Bipolar II hypomania is subtle; catching early is significant.
Early depression signals (any 3 for 3+ consecutive days):
- Sleep increasing (8+ hours but still tired)
- Mood consistently 3-4
- Energy consistently 3-4
- Spoken word count dropping (isolating)
- Anhedonia (pleasure score in general life dropping)
→ Contact therapist within 72 hours. Psychiatrist if pattern persists >7 days.
Mixed state signals (dangerous — highest suicide risk in bipolar):
- Mood low + energy high
- Agitation + low mood
- Racing thoughts + depression
→ Psychiatrist within 48 hours. 988 if acute distress. Mixed states are bipolar's most dangerous state.
Trust the data. If pattern is clearly shifting, don't wait for next scheduled appointment.
Common use cases
- Daily morning practice alongside therapy
- Medication compliance + side-effect tracking (share with psychiatrist)
- Pattern-tracking for chronic mental illness (bipolar mood charts, depression trend)
- Building self-awareness foundation before starting therapy
- Post-therapy maintenance practice
- Anyone wanting early-warning system for declining mental health
Best AI model for this
Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-5 — daily tool; speed matters.
Pro tips
- Same time daily. 6-8am window optimal; evening check-ins capture different state.
- In bed before phone-checking if possible. Phone activates different brain state.
- Don't overthink ratings. 1-5 intuitive, not calibrated. Consistency of YOUR rating over time matters more than objective accuracy.
- Skip days happen. Don't 'catch up.' Just resume.
- Review weekly (Sunday evening). Look at 7 days at once. Patterns jump out.
- Bring data to therapy + psychiatrist. Your 30-day chart is useful diagnostic information.
- Don't journal for audience (therapist reading it, etc.). Write for yourself. Perform-free = accurate.
Customization tips
- For bipolar specifically: this is mood-charting — use the established Social Rhythm Metric (Frank et al. 2005) format as extension if helpful. Track sleep, wake, first contact with another person, first meal, start work, dinner, bedtime. Rhythm disruption predicts episodes.
- For chronic depression: track anhedonia specifically ('did anything feel good yesterday?'). Anhedonia is depression's core symptom; noting presence/absence captures texture bare mood rating misses.
- For anxiety tracking: add 'avoidance behaviors' column. Did I skip something because of anxiety? That's data; avoidance reinforces anxiety long-term.
- For medication adjustments: track side effects in narrative for 2-4 weeks post-adjustment. Psychiatrist needs data, not memory.
- For early therapy (first 3-6 months): simpler ratings. Don't over-track; build habit first. Sustainable 3 ratings > intermittent 7 ratings.
- For post-episode recovery: heightened pattern-tracking for 3-6 months. Relapse rates highest in first 6 months post-episode. Early warning catches before full relapse.
- For people without formal diagnosis but building self-awareness: same structure, less alarm-wire about specific patterns. You're building baseline understanding of how YOUR system works.
Variants
Default 5-Min
Standard morning check-in
Bipolar Mood Chart
Elevated + depressed + mixed states tracked; sleep hours critical
Chronic Depression Tracking
Energy + concentration + anhedonia over time
Anxiety Pattern Tracking
Anticipatory anxiety + physical symptoms + avoidance patterns
Recovery Maintenance (post-episode)
Early warning for relapse; sensitive to small shifts
Frequently asked questions
How do I use the Mental Health Morning Check-In — 5-Minute Practice prompt?
Open the prompt page, click 'Copy prompt', paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, and replace the placeholders in curly braces with your real input. The prompt is also launchable directly in each model with one click.
Which AI model works best with Mental Health Morning Check-In — 5-Minute Practice?
Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-5 — daily tool; speed matters.
Can I customize the Mental Health Morning Check-In — 5-Minute Practice prompt for my use case?
Yes — every Promptolis Original is designed to be customized. Key levers: Same time daily. 6-8am window optimal; evening check-ins capture different state.; In bed before phone-checking if possible. Phone activates different brain state.
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