Sharing – Here’s what happens to your body when clocks ‘fall back’ an hour
If nothing else, the effects of sleep disruption can wreak havoc on us, and time changes absolutely do.
If nothing else, the effects of sleep disruption can wreak havoc on us, and time changes absolutely do.
Joy is in short supply these days, and if there is an activity that creates it for you, that is the best self-care you can practice.
That description of restlessness is familiar to me. That’s how I feel when I’m not engaged in learning something. That’s why I remain curious about the things I care about and why I share so much here and elsewhere online. It’s a motivation for me to continue learning, and that, in turn, helps my mental health.
It’s self-care for me.
Like her, I am all for doing what you need to for self-care, whatever that looks like for you. But we cannot simply prescribe better self-care practices to people who need our society to stop harming them.
Until we recognize that and fight for those changes, we are falling short in advocating for better mental health for everyone.
The reality is that we know what kinds of societal change will positively impact mental health. We know that poverty, pollution, discrimination, violence, etc., are environmental factors that harm mental health. We know that medication, exercise, touching grass, etc. won’t make the slightest difference for those factors. (They may help some of the things that factor into mental health issues, but when you’re unhoused or being discriminated against, a walk in the park won’t change that.)
We also know what it will take to correct some of those environmental factors, lift people out of poverty, invest in local resources to support each other, eradicate discrimination by creating inclusive programs aimed at the needs of different groups, etc.
The only question is whether we care enough to do those things, and the overwhelming answer we’ve gotten in recent months is no.
Life is complicated and uncertain. Our mental state is impacted by that every single day. It is no longer a choice to do the things that support our mental health. I would add that it’s not just an obligation we have to ourselves but an obligation we owe each other. Take care of yourself, and support other people when you can. That’s the only way forward.