Mental Health Matters: Self-care isn’t selfish

By Kayleah Robbins on March 14, 2020.

Did you know that 20% of Albertans aged 12-65 reported feeling “quite a bit or extremely stressed” most days? This level of consistent stress can cause many physical conditions, like high blood pressure, obesity, fertility issues, heart attack and stroke – and that is just on our bodies. When it comes to our minds – our mental health – stress can lead to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and insomnia.

So, what can you do in order to make sure your mental and physical well-being is being taken care of? How can we, as a society, better manage the daily stress that has become a part of our culture? By introducing self-care.

The term self-care is being used more openly and freely in recent times, and can usually be showcased with bubble baths, shopping sprees, and junk food binges. Although there is nothing wrong with practicing self-care in these ways, it should be noted that self-care is so much more than just treating yourself to these special things during an overwhelming time.

Self-care is described as any activity that we participate in in order to take care of our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. Which for some, may be having that relaxing bubble bath at the end of an exhausting day! But, self-care is more than just treating ourselves when times get tough and demanding; it should become part of our daily routine in order to help us become more resilient to the challenges of every day life and stress.

Stress and problems are going to happen in life, unfortunately there’s nothing we can do to stop that. But what we do have control over is how we react to situations and respond to others when we are going through a stressful time.

There are specific ways we can work on building resiliency to stress by incorporating things into our daily life such as: Ensuring you are drinking enough water (six 8-oz glasses per day!), eating fresh fruits and veggies, getting enough sleep at night (7-10 hours!), regularly exercising, using deep breathing techniques (breathe in to the count of four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four, repeat!), and/or practicing yoga, meditation, or other mindfulness techniques!

By incorporating self care into our daily routines, it allows us to be more resilient towards stressful situations and also gives us better insight into ourselves and what makes us feel sad, angry, or upset.

Self-care does more than just reduce our own personal stress, it also helps us to be better partners, parents, friends, colleagues, employers – you name it! That time old saying “you can’t help others unless you help yourself first” absolutely rings true here! Practicing self care as a part of our daily routine ensures we have a healthy body and an open mind when faced with life’s challenges.

Remember to take the time for yourself – it isn’t being selfish!

Kayleah Robbins is the Financial Administrator and Mental Health Educator at Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta Southeast Region and can be reached at 403-504-1811. To find out more about CMHA programs and/or events visit http://www.cmha-aser.ca. If you are in crisis, call the Distress Centre at 1-800-784-2433.

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