Mental Health Day -- what do you do for your mental health?

[Angela Toucan]

my mental health? - that's what I come here for.

 

[dawnmarch]

I have medication and I also pray and meditate.

Medication, getting a part-time job, making time for socializing, and reflecting on Quranic verses.

Medication is such an important part of this and definitely the more holistic approach is the way to go. I read an thought-provoking article recently about "self-care" and how it is sort of unfair to basically put even more on (mostly) women to engage in self-care as the "cure for" chronic anxiety. Their point was that it amounts to blaming women for being anxious because they aren't doing enough self-care or doing it right; which diverts attention from looking at the underlying societal causes for that anxiety that society is mostly unwilling to fix (lack of support for parents, for example). Anyhow, I thought it was an interesting way to look at it and there is definitely some kernel of truth in there.

 

[gonewiththewind]

Medication is such an important part of this and definitely the more holistic approach is the way to go. I read an thought-provoking article recently about "self-care" and how it is sort of unfair to basically put even more on (mostly) women to engage in self-care as the "cure for" chronic anxiety. Their point was that it amounts to blaming women for being anxious because they aren't doing enough self-care or doing it right; which diverts attention from looking at the underlying societal causes for that anxiety that society is mostly unwilling to fix (lack of support for parents, for example). Anyhow, I thought it was an interesting way to look at it and there is definitely some kernel of truth in there.

I think self-care is definitely a component of living with chronic anxiety, but it's certainly not a cure-all. I think women try to wear a ridiculous amount of hats - from homemaker to cook to career to mother, etc. - and they try to be perfect at all of them. Maybe I'm painting too broad a brush. Let's say that **I** put too much emphasis on that. There's nothing wrong with striving to be your very best; however, I find that it increases my anxiety. When I'm managing my anxiety, I know that I can focus on what is in front of me that particular day, BUT that also might mean that I'm not doing a great job at a number of other roles.

I was just thinking about societal causes for anxiety, and one of the big ones that I faced was when I was working outside the home. My child was young and one year she had strep throat a ridiculous amount of times, to the point where I was checked to see if I was a carrier. Anyway, I digress. There was so much pressure at the law firm that I worked for on attendance - even if you or your child was sick - and I was always worried about losing my job. Talk about anxiety! I had good reason for being worried as I knew someone personally who was fired because she was out too much with her children. I'm thankful that my husband was totally on board with swapping out who would stay out when our child was sick. Of course, nowadays, there are so many options for employees to work remotely. In that, I think society has changed for the better. Even with that, I know my nephew and his wife are both in the hot seat at their jobs because their little one has been sick so much. It's not healthy.

OK, I'm done rambling. I think. Now I'm anxious I overshared. LOL