The importance of self-care and mental well-being is often ignored because not doing anything is perceived negatively in society. You are lazy, huh?
Why should we talk about the importance of self-care and mental well-being? Simple: It is stressful to be a person, especially when you are a teenager or older.
Life becomes more stressful when you are biologically a female. Personally, I envy men because they don’t deal with headaches and hormonal changes monthly.
My migraines ruin my plans and my schedule every month. Sadly, I can’t do anything about it. It is out of my control.
So, what is the importance of self-care and mental well-being? In other words, why do we need to pay attention to ourselves? Here are my thoughts:
- It feels good to look good. It looks good to feel good.
- Working hard today will give you an awesome future, but your future might be only until tomorrow.
- It may not be your choice to be alive, but you are alive. If you want to ruin your life, be a rebel with a cause.
- If you neglect yourself because you want to die, did you know that many people who attempted suicide regretted it?
Let’s begin.
The Importance of Self-Care and Mental Well-Being
Before I talk about the importance of self-care and mental well-being, let me show you what my day looks like.
After my morning walk, I will take a shower and water the plants, and eat if I am hungry. I study for 1 hour and write about what I studied for another hour, and then it is lunchtime. I love learning!
I work for 3 hours after lunch, and then an hour break. I will work for 3 hours or less after that break if I have more tasks to do, and then my day is done. *sigh*
That is my routine from Mondays through Thursdays. My Fridays are more flexible. That is my filming day, so that is a “me” day. No client work!
Working is optional on Saturdays and Sundays.
My schedule is never full, but that is because I have learned from my previous burnouts. It sucks to be burned out.
According to Cleveland Clinic, some signs of burnout include fatigue, apathy, headaches, diet problems, and sleep problems.
I was physically exhausted, mentally challenged, and emotionally drained. I wanted to do a lot in a short period to get quick results.
I have personal projects, and I write in various forms on different platforms for the most part. Writing seems easy for non-writers, but unless you are writing nonsense, it is mentally taxing.
It gets boring at a certain point, so that adds to the mental stress. You will run out of words to say. You will stop making sense if you continue squeezing your brain.
I like what I do, especially now that A Lover in Disguise has leveled up, I discovered that A Writer in Disguise can rank on search engines, and I get to use my bachelor’s degree for my sociopolitical blog.
But sometimes, my energy and mental capacity can’t keep up with my passion for writing. So, it stresses me out. I will need to pause and do some self-care stuff.
Quite possibly, you came across this post because you are craving a break from whatever you do, and want some kind of confirmation. Here: You can take a break!
The importance of self-care and mental well-being is often ignored because not doing anything is perceived negatively in society. You are lazy, huh?
Being burned out, if not resolved immediately, can lead to depression. Learn the importance of self-care and mental well-being before it happens!
1. It feels good to look good. It looks good to feel good.
Why is self-care important?
One of the first things you notice when you pay attention to yourself is your physical appearance: Do you look healthy? Are you aging faster than your age?
What I learned when I glowed up is that our looks affect how confident we are. If we feel ugly, it makes us unconfident. If we feel pretty, we become more confident.
wikiHow has a guide on how to glow up, and changing your physical appearance is just one part of the equation.
Feeling pretty doesn’t mean looking like a beauty queen. It means that you like how you look. Maybe you have fixed your fixable flaws and embraced the fixed ones.
You can also achieve that level of satisfaction with your looks if you put a sheet mask on your face, sit in the bathtub, and listen to your favorite songs.
You know, the typical self-care routines that many people share across the internet.
2. Working hard today will give you an awesome future, but your future might be only until tomorrow.
We need to work to earn money, which we use to stay sane. But you could also use a portion of it to treat yourself for working so hard. You deserve a break!
You could buy a ticket to your dream country, and spend a week there. If you can’t afford it, buy a movie ticket and watch your favorite movie while holding a popcorn.
Or while holding your partner’s hand if you have one. I don’t have one.
If you ask a hardworking person why they are working hard, many will say it is for their future. However, working hard without self-care shortens one’s lifespan.
When is that future?
Want to live longer? Healthline shares habits that can lengthen your lifespan!
It is good to have a good future. Even I am working on my personal projects because I want an easier life after 30. But burnout leads to depression, and depression makes one suicidal.
If you don’t keep in mind the importance of self-care, you might not be there to receive the fruits of your hard work in the future. Unfortunately.
3. It may not be your choice to be alive, but you are alive. If you want to ruin your life, be a rebel with a cause.
I have depressive moments.
During those times, I wish I were dead. But I am self-aware, so I know that I want to live. When I am in my normal state, I feel okay being alive.
Those sad moments last only a day. The reason is that I pause and allow myself to just breathe. I take a step back from whatever I do to go back to normal.
Self-care is important because the time we spend not thinking of anything other than ourselves helps us balance our emotions, if not increase the positive ones.
You take antidepressants when depressed. National Library of Medicine explains that what antidepressants do is increase the production of serotonin. Serotonin is the “feel-good” chemical in our body.
If you are not happy being alive, try to have a purpose for what you do. Some people commit suicide not because they hate life. They feel hopeless.
Deep inside you, you want to do something. You just don’t think you have what it takes to do it, or maybe you don’t have the resources to make things possible.
Sadness can make us want to ruin our life. But if you want to ruin yours, do so in a way that results in something positive and can be considered self-care.
For example, express your anger towards that boss who fired you or the ex who abused you publicly even though the general public might say you are immature.
It is immature, but expressing anger is healthy. That is self-care, I guess?
4. If you neglect yourself because you want to die, did you know that many people who attempted suicide regretted it?
I have gone through many obstacles throughout my existence. Sometimes, when I feel down, I want to die. Honestly, if I didn’t care about my family, I would do that.
I am in a Catholic country, and committing suicide is a sin. You will not go to jail because you are dead, but they say you will go to hell.
No one has seen hell, but it scares us. No sane person wants to be there.
Having suicidal thoughts is normal among those who deal with more stuff than they can handle. If we can’t solve it, the solution we see is ending our lives.
It is not because we don’t want to live.
According to Psychology Today, many of those who attempted suicide don’t want to do it again because they realized they don’t want to die.
That is the reason why those who attempted to kill themselves and failed regretted their action: They just want someone who can help them fix their problems.
Need a friend? If you have a problem you can’t fix by yourself, and you are thinking of ending your life because you are frustrated, I am one message away.
I added a chat plugin on this website not only because I want you to have someone to talk to. I also want someone to talk to because I have mental health issues, too.
We are on the same page.
I looked for “someone to talk to” on Google, and the results were disappointing. Many of those who offered free talking sessions were unresponsive.
Last Words
A lot of people misunderstand the importance of self-care. They think it is about overspending and overindulgence, so they think they can’t afford it.
However, even simply having a consistent sleeping routine and daily journaling are considered self-care. Drinking coffee float boosts my mood!
Talking to someone about what bothers you is also self-care. It is not healthy to bottle a lot of things up. Do you cry at night?
You can click that chat button in the bottom-right corner of the page if you want to talk to me. Talk to me when I am online if you want quick responses!
That’s the importance of self-care and mental well-being!
If you enjoyed reading the importance of self-care and mental well-being, here is a video of me looking good and feeling good:
