mental health – Simply Life:

‘Just look on the bright side!’
‘It’s not as bad as you think it is!’
‘If you just focus on the positives, you’ll feel better.’
‘Your life is wonderful, you don’t need to be depressed!’

We’ve all heard them, and a lot of us have even said them. But you know what? These things don’t help (believe it or not)! I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again; people like us, we can’t just look on the bright side to feel better. If it were that simple, who would need antidepressants? Therapists would be out of a job, and we would all be ‘okay’! Here are a few reasons why you really shouldn’t tell someone with a mental illness (or even someone who is seriously struggling with something) to just ‘look on the bright side’:

So many people talk about “self care” these days, especially when one is suffering from a mental illness, as well as things like stress and fatigue. But there’s something that many people don’t realise: Self care might not be what you think it is.

The question I am going to ask is, how do you view self care? Is it purely taking time out to be alone, to take a breath and relax? Treating yourself to coffee on the way to or from work? A long bubble bath at the end of a big day? A massage? An extra piece of cake – because you deserve it?

I have a simple answer for you. No. That is not self care. That is what I call “self love”. Self love is not a bad thing at all; it is in fact important, as long as it is not over-indulged. (But that’s for another post, on another day.)
Let’s talk more now about what “self care” really is…

Showing all posts tagged mental health

3 Reasons NOT to Say ‘Look on the Bright Side’…

The Truth about Self Care