Today I would like to revisit self-care. I wrote about it last June (Self-Care Ideas for When You Are Struggling with Depression) but I think it is worth revisiting. At its very core self-care is doing things to take care of yourself. We all need to take care of ourselves. Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle of life, caring for ourselves often gets lost. Self- care is important for everyone. Today I would like to focus on two groups of people. First, individuals with depression and other mental illnesses. Second, I will address the need for mental healthcare professionals to ensure that they are engaging in self-care.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “self-care means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health.” On the surface this seems like a simple task, but for many of us it is difficult to prioritize self-care. Living with mental illness can make engaging in self-care even more difficult. The depression tells us not to get out of bed. It tells us that self-care is not worth the energy it requires. Depression and other mental illnesses tell us that we are not going to get better even if we engage in self-care activities. We are up against a mountain of reasons not to take care of ourselves. But mental illness is a liar. If we can just get ourselves to start, we would find that we will do so much better.
What does self-care include? Really there are no limits to what can be considered self-care. It depends on the individual. In general, self-care includes getting enough sleep, but not too much, regular exercise, eating healthily, engaging in relaxing activities, setting goals and priorities, thinking positively, and staying connected. Sounds easy, right? I wish it was. When you struggle with mental illness, these basic routines can become difficult. Try focusing on one to start with.
There are times when I can only focus on one aspect of self-care. Those are the times when my depression is bad. At these times I need to pick one self-care routine to focus on. Maybe it is exercising regularly. For me that looks like taking walks several times a week. It can be difficult to drag myself onto the sidewalk when I am feeling down. I need to remind myself that I will feel better, even if only slightly, afterwards. This helps me get my feet going. I have found that linking exercise with goalsetting helps me. So, I use the notes app on my phone to track how many times I walk each week. This allows me to see that I am really doing it, which builds my self-esteem. That in turn helps lift my depression.
Self-care is important when you live with mental illness. It helps you climb out of the pit that so often we fall into. It allows us to feel positives. Sleep, healthy eating habits, exercise, and regular engagement are all things that can help us when we are struggling. Start small. Don’t pressure yourself to jump in and do everything. That is likely to result in failure. Starting small allows us to see the positives and experience the successes. Whatever self-care looks like to you, make an effort to do it for your mental health.
What about mental healthcare professionals? Why is self-care so important for these individuals? According to an article by Posluns and Gall, there is a prevalence of stress, burnout, and professional impairment among mental healthcare professionals. These authors found that self-care is important for mental healthcare professionals. Think about it. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists (and other mental healthcare professionals work with people who are often struggling. They see people at their lowest and help them cope with or overcome their mental illnesses. These professionals see a lot of struggle. They are expected to express caring in a relationship where the client is often not capable, or at least not expected to return, that care. That can take a toll on someone.
According to Posluns and Gall a mental health practitioner must be well themselves in order to provide care to patients/clients. This obviously requires engaging in self-care. Posluns and Gall cite the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists, which states that psychologists should “engage in self-care activities that help to avoid conditions (e.g., burnout, addictions) that could result in impaired judgment and interfere with their ability to benefit and not harm others”.
The same guidelines I provided above for self-care apply to mental healthcare professionals. Self-care may look different for mental healthcare professionals because they are not dealing with the difficulties of mental illness. The important thing is that the professional carves out time in their day for themselves. They need to make an active attempt to engage in self-care. Likely they are encouraging their patients/clients to engage in self-care. The mental healthcare professional needs to lead by example. This doesn’t mean they need to share what they are doing with their patients. The fact that they are engaging in self-care will be evident from their overall well-being and lack of burnout.
Self-care is part of healthy living for everyone. People with mental illness may need more support to engage in self-care. We can all take small steps to improve our lives through self-care. Take a moment to examine what you are doing. Can you take a step to engage in a self-care activity? If you are already engaging in self-care activities, can you add to what you are already doing?
We are all worthy of care. It starts with us. We need to take steps to care for ourselves. That is how we all can become healthier.
For tips on self-care activities see my previous post, (Self-Care Ideas for When You Are Struggling with Depression).
Source: Posluns, K., & Gall, T. L. (2020). Dear Mental Health Practitioners, Take Care of Yourselves: a Literature Review on Self-Care. International journal for the advancement of counseling, 42(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-019-09382-w