Stress Reduction & Self Care: What’s The Truth?
Was one of your resolutions for 2023 to “stress less,” “manage stress in a healthier way,” or “invest in self care and time for yourself every week”? If so, how are those going? Q1 is behind us, and it’s time to take stock of our goals and good intentions for the rest of the year.
If you’ve been feeling increasingly more stressed, and wondering what you can do to manage life a little better, you’re not alone. A 2018 survey by the Mental Health Foundation found that “74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope,” with 81% of women, in particular, feeling overwhelmed by life compared to 67% of men.
It’s safe to say that between the pandemic years, the geopolitical difficulties we’re currently facing, climate change and even the cost of living crisis, things haven’t gotten any better since 2018. At the same time, the concept of self care has become ubiquitous and largely more commercialised in the last few years.
So, what’s the truth? Are there really any healthy ways to handle life's stressors? Can self care be considered mental health care, and what can you do in your everyday life to feel a little less overwhelmed by it all? Keep reading for a complete overview of everything you need to know about stress reduction and self care in the modern world!
Why are we all so stressed?
Let’s start here: what is stress, and why are we all feeling its hold more and more as each year goes by? In many ways, modern life is a walk in the park compared to what our ancestors had to deal with in their lifetimes, but we’ve also traded in some things that they might have taken for granted and gotten our fair share of messy stressors in return.Things like constantly being connected through email, Slack, WhatsApp, not to mention social media and the ways we love to compare ourselves to everyone else we see on the internet, really add up and cause us much more stress than we might otherwise believe. Although it might not be as strenuous or manual as it used to be, work itself is stressful these days, as we’re constantly asked to do too much in our professional lives, and struggle to find a healthy work-life balance that meets our needs.
Add noise and air pollution to the mix, throw in a lifestyle of poor alimentation and infrequent exercise that we’re being collectively pushed toward even against our will, and you’ve got yourself one stressed society!
What is self care and why is it so important?
According to the government’s National Institute of Mental Health, self care simply means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health.Things like getting regular sun exposure and some form of exercise, sleeping enough hours a day, prioritising tasks and needs and learning to delegate, eating a balanced diet and staying hydrated ––they seem simple, but we all know that once the going gets tough and the week starts filling up, they can be anything but. Well, self care is all about managing to squeeze as many as you can of these types of activities and goals into your everyday life!
It’s not some magic formula, of course, and it’s never an instant on-off switch. But prioritising self care is super important, especially in the long run, as stress can majorly affect our health and put us at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, sleep and memory impairments, strokes, muscle tension, chronic pain, digestive issues, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and so much more.
We don’t want to scare you, we’re here to warn you: if you keep putting off taking care of yourself, this is the time to get serious about your priorities.
All the misconceptions surrounding self care
Since self care first started appearing everywhere we looked in 2015-2016, it’s become increasingly misunderstood, and especially, commercialised.
If it began as a simple and healthy approach to making small choices in the context of creating an everyday reality that doesn’t overwhelm or feel anxiety-inducing, it’s now turned into Instagram platitudes like “buy that luxury bag, it’s self care!” and “you can cancel dinner with your friend at the last minute, it’s self care to put yourself first!” that don’t do anyone any favours.
Sure, sometimes cancelling plans when you feel like you’re going to cry if you don’t get home as soon as you can in order to get ten hours of sleep is a form of self care ––because all it is is, you’ve hit your limit and addressed your needs with compassion and integrity. On the same note, doing a face mask or buying a cute new mug that makes us smile can slow down our heart rate and make us feel more able to cope with the day or week ahead. But it’s just not as simple as that!
Beginning your self care journey
You can think of self care as more of a mindset, and a fundamental shift in our approach to meeting our needs and doing what we can to give ourselves a little grace in dealing with how overwhelming things can often feel.
Self care is personal and can look different based on our individual needs and dispositions, so there’s no one-size-fits-all formula. As such, it has to begin with the exploration of questions like: What will truly help me in this moment? What do I need right now? What’s weighing on me, and what is one thing I can do to minimise that feeling? What would my future self be proud of me for doing in response to this stressor?
By focusing on stress-reducing tips and practices such as implementing the right mindset, setting priorities, tracking energy triggers and noticing what helps boost our energy, focusing on positivity and gratitude, identifying our unhealthy habits and making sleep and exercise a priority, you’ll start seeing a shift in your overall approach to everyday stressors, and in time, learn to cope with them in a healthier way.
