It’s easy to think of self-care as something fun or relaxing that we take the time to do, just for ourselves. But, living a healthy life is so much more than that. Yes, we need the activities that fill our cups so that we have the energy to give in other areas of our lives. But, true self-care is also about doing the things that are hard, because they are better for us.
You should go read the whole thing, because I think there’s a certain amount of self-awareness that is required to truly identify the early signs for depression or other struggles.
For example, I know that there are two signs for me that might mean I’m headed for some struggle with depression, and neither one of them look like sadness. First, I start to get incredibly irritated, and then, because other people irritate me, I start to withdraw and isolate.
If I look at the standard explanations and visual images we use when we talk about depression, I don’t see those signs. I’m not sitting around listening to sad music, crying, or over-eating. I’m too angry for that.
I suspect for many people their depression may not look like that either, it may look a lot more like some of the things in this article.
Similar to Clint, when I wrote about not being OK a few weeks back, I also got quite a few private messages from friends and professional contacts who are silently also not OK. But they weren’t ready to talk about it publicly and I understand that. We’ve made it entirely too difficult for most people to talk about it publicly, because we immediately start to treat someone differently when we learn that they are now, or have in the past, been dealing with mental health issues. Unfortunately, that reaction that many have to hearing someone talk about it, is because we are so uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the idea of someone talking about it. And, so the circle just keeps repeating.
So, some of that 47% who think seeking therapy is a sign of weakness have, themselves, sought out therapy. I can only assume then that these messages about it being a sign of weakness are so ingrained that people will even view themselves as weak.
I know this feeling. It’s not easy to shake. We do, however, need to do it. It needs to be normalized to the point where we don’t view it as a weakness.
This study out of Australia confirms something I’ve written about many times in regards to things like the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study: While the study reaffirmed that people who had adverse and unpredictable early life experiences had elevated symptoms of poor mental health (including depression and paranoia), it also found that children who grew…
We are going nowhere with this. We are still looking at kids with mental health struggles as a product of bad parents, and discouraging parents from getting their kids the help they need at a young age. Then, without treatment, they just grow up into adults with worsening symptoms who need ever more help.
Is this really the cycle we want to be in? This makes no sense. It’s not about raising awareness anymore, I suspect it’s about putting an end to passing judgment on every single thing parents do, or don’t do. We’ve got to stop that. We’re only hurting more and more kids.
