Mental Health Check-In

Weekly mood and mental health journaling with PHQ-9 inspired tracking, trigger identification, and coping strategy suggestions. This skill provides a private, structured framework for monitoring your emotional well-being over time. It guides you through evidence-informed check-in questions, tracks patterns in mood and stress triggers, and suggests coping strategies drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy principles -- all while keeping your data entirely local.

Supported Platforms & Integrations

Platform	Integration Type	Features
Day One	JSON export import	Import existing journal entries, correlate mood with past reflections
Apple Health	XML export parsing	Read mindfulness minutes, correlate sleep data with mood trends
Google Calendar	ICS file analysis	Identify schedule patterns that correlate with mood changes
Notion	Markdown export	Export check-in summaries as formatted pages for personal knowledge base
Obsidian	Markdown files	Write check-in notes directly as Obsidian-compatible markdown with YAML frontmatter

When to Use

• Weekly emotional check-in -- structured self-assessment of mood, energy, anxiety, and sleep quality using consistent scales
• Trigger identification -- after a difficult day or week, log what happened and let the system identify recurring trigger patterns
• Coping strategy lookup -- when feeling overwhelmed, ask for evidence-based coping techniques matched to your current state
• Pre-therapy preparation -- generate a summary of recent mood data and notable events to bring to therapy sessions
• Monthly trend review -- examine 4-week mood trajectories to identify seasonal patterns, progress, or areas needing attention
• Gratitude journaling -- capture daily or weekly gratitude entries alongside mood data to track correlation

Alternatives to consider:

• For clinical-grade mood tracking with medication reminders, apps like Daylio or eMoods offer specialized features
• For guided meditation and mindfulness, Headspace or Calm provide structured audio-guided sessions
• If you are in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) or Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741)

Quick Start

Copy
# mental-health-check-in.yaml
skill:
  name: mental-health-check-in
  description: Weekly mood and mental health journaling
  config:
    check_in_frequency: weekly      # daily or weekly
    check_in_day: sunday            # preferred day for weekly check-in
    mood_scale: 1-10                # 1-5 or 1-10
    track_dimensions:
      - mood
      - energy
      - anxiety
      - sleep_quality
      - social_connection
    storage_path: ~/.claude/mental-health/
    export_format: markdown
    include_coping_suggestions: true

Example interaction:

User: Let's do my weekly check-in

Assistant: Weekly Mental Health Check-In -- March 15, 2026

Let's go through each dimension. Rate on a scale of 1-10:

1. Overall mood this week? (1=very low, 10=excellent)
   > 6

2. Energy levels? (1=exhausted, 10=very energized)
   > 5

3. Anxiety levels? (1=severe, 10=completely calm)
   > 4

4. Sleep quality? (1=terrible, 10=perfect)
   > 7

5. Social connection? (1=very isolated, 10=deeply connected)
   > 6

Summary: Mood 6 | Energy 5 | Anxiety 4 | Sleep 7 | Social 6
Composite score: 5.6/10 (slightly below your 4-week avg of 6.2)

Notable: Anxiety is lower than usual. Any specific triggers this week?

Advanced Configuration

Platform-specific setup for Obsidian export:

Copy
export:
  target: obsidian
  vault_path: ~/Documents/ObsidianVault/MentalHealth/
  template: |
    ---
    date: {{date}}
    mood: {{mood}}
    energy: {{energy}}
    anxiety: {{anxiety}}
    tags: [mental-health, check-in]
    ---
  link_style: wikilink           # wikilink or markdown

Full parameter reference:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
check_in_frequency	string	weekly	How often to prompt: daily or weekly
check_in_day	string	sunday	Preferred day for weekly check-ins
mood_scale	string	1-10	Rating scale: 1-5 or 1-10
track_dimensions	array	[mood,energy,anxiety,sleep]	Dimensions to track each check-in
include_coping_suggestions	boolean	true	Offer coping strategies based on scores
include_gratitude	boolean	false	Add gratitude prompts to each check-in
trigger_tracking	boolean	true	Ask about and log emotional triggers
storage_path	string	~/.claude/mental-health/	Local directory for all data
export_format	string	markdown	Export format: markdown, json, or csv
trend_window_weeks	number	4	Weeks of data used for trend calculations
crisis_resources	boolean	true	Show crisis hotline info when scores are very low
journal_prompt	boolean	true	Include open-ended journaling prompt
composite_weights	object	equal	Custom weights for composite score calculation

Core Concepts

Concept	Description
Composite Score	Weighted average across all tracked dimensions giving a single wellness number for trend comparison
Trigger Pattern	Recurring event, situation, or thought identified across multiple entries as preceding low mood scores
Coping Strategy	Evidence-informed technique drawn from CBT, DBT, and mindfulness practices matched to current symptoms
Trend Baseline	Rolling 4-week average for each dimension, used to detect meaningful deviations from your personal norm
Safety Check	Automatic assessment when scores fall below configurable thresholds, surfacing crisis resources

  Check-In Data Flow
  ==================

  [Guided Questions] --> [Dimension Ratings]
         |                       |
         v                       v
  [Open Journal Entry] --> [Trigger Extraction]
         |                       |
         v                       v
  [Composite Score] -------> [Trend Comparison]
         |                       |
         v                       v
  [Coping Suggestions] --> [Local Storage]
         |                       |
         v                       v
  [Safety Check] ---------> [Export/Report]

Workflow Examples

Scenario 1: Quick mid-week check-in

Input:  "Quick mood check -- feeling off today"
Output: Quick Check-In -- March 12, 2026 (Wednesday)
        Mood: 4/10 (you rated 6 on Sunday -- noticeable drop)
        What happened? "Conflict with coworker, didn't sleep well"
        Triggers logged: interpersonal conflict, poor sleep
        Coping suggestion: Try the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise.
        Name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear,
        2 you smell, 1 you taste. This helps shift from rumination
        to present-moment awareness.

Scenario 2: Monthly trend report

Input:  "Show my mental health trends for the past month"
Output: 4-Week Trend Report (Feb 16 - March 15, 2026):
        Mood:       5.8 --> 6.2 --> 5.5 --> 6.0  (stable, slight variance)
        Energy:     5.0 --> 5.5 --> 4.8 --> 5.2  (stable)
        Anxiety:    5.5 --> 6.0 --> 4.0 --> 4.5  (declining -- needs attention)
        Sleep:      7.0 --> 7.2 --> 6.5 --> 7.0  (good, consistent)
        Top triggers: work deadlines (3x), interpersonal conflict (2x)
        Observation: Anxiety trending down while other dimensions stable.
        Consider discussing anxiety management strategies.

Scenario 3: Pre-therapy summary

Input:  "Generate a summary for my therapist appointment tomorrow"
Output: Therapy Preparation Summary -- Past 2 Weeks
        Average composite: 5.4/10 (down from 6.1 prior period)
        Key events: project deadline stress, argument with partner,
        skipped gym 3 times
        Recurring triggers: time pressure, interpersonal conflict
        Sleep: averaged 6.2 hours (down from 7.1)
        Coping strategies used: breathing exercises (3x), journaling (4x)
        Questions to discuss: anxiety management during deadlines,
        communication strategies for conflict

Best Practices

1. Check in at the same time each week -- consistency in timing produces more comparable data. Checking in Sunday evening captures the full week and sets intentions for the next one.

2. Rate first, reflect second -- give your numerical ratings before writing open-ended reflections. This prevents your narrative from biasing the scores and keeps the quantitative data clean.

3. Be honest, not performative -- this data is private and exists only for your benefit. Inflating scores to feel better about the numbers defeats the purpose of tracking.

4. Look for patterns, not single data points -- one bad week does not indicate a problem. Three weeks of declining scores across multiple dimensions is a meaningful signal worth exploring.

5. Use crisis resources when needed -- this tool is for self-awareness and tracking, not a replacement for professional help. If composite scores consistently fall below 3/10, please reach out to a mental health professional.

Common Issues

Issue: Check-ins feel repetitive and I skip them Solution: Reduce the number of tracked dimensions to just mood and one other. Shorter check-ins have higher adherence. You can also switch to the 1-5 scale which feels faster. The best check-in is the one you actually do.

Issue: Numerical ratings feel arbitrary and inconsistent Solution: Create personal anchor descriptions. Write down what a 2, 5, and 8 feel like for each dimension and save them as reference notes. Review these anchors before rating to improve consistency over time.

Issue: Coping suggestions feel generic and unhelpful Solution: After trying a coping strategy, rate its effectiveness. Over time the system will learn which strategies work best for your specific trigger patterns and prioritize those in future suggestions. You can also add custom strategies that have worked for you.

Privacy & Data Handling

Mental health data is among the most sensitive personal information. All check-in responses, mood ratings, journal entries, and trigger logs are stored exclusively in your local storage_path directory (default: ~/.claude/mental-health/). No data is transmitted to any external server, cloud service, or API. The skill does not use any telemetry or analytics. When exporting to Obsidian or Notion, files are written directly to your local vault or export directory. You can encrypt the storage directory using your operating system's built-in encryption (FileVault on macOS, BitLocker on Windows). Deleting the storage directory permanently removes all mental health data with no recovery possible.