Taking a Mental Health Day
Symptoms are an indicator of something else. If you felt in your body that you might be getting sick with a cold, you might have symptoms of a headache, stuffy nose and fatigue. To head off possibly really getting sick, you start paying attention to the symptoms and take precautions by ingesting cold medicines or staying home to rest from your activities. In these moments, do you consider yourself selfish or feel others see you as such? No, generally it is thought to be wise to listen to your body’s needs and provide yourself with self-care.
In the same way, paying attention to your mental and emotional needs and symptoms and allowing yourself to hit “pause” is needed for rest and recovery to prevent further, more in depth, problems such as severe mental health challenges.
What is a Mental Health Day:
A mental-health day is exactly that. It is a designated time-off, time-out, and pause to focus on your mental and emotional health, wellness and self-care. It is a day or time frame you take off from your daily responsibilities such as those at home, work or school, while minimizing your commitments and responsibilities to focus on relieving stress, restoration, rest, having fun and preventing burnout or further illness.
Think of a Mental-Health Day like a vacation specifically for your mental, emotional and physical well-being. The practicalities of it can differ as to length of time off, the location and activities, however the goal and focus is to hit ‘‘Pause” and pay attention to your mental health and self-care needs.
Self-Care vs. Selfishness:
There are so many self-care analogies that have been used such as batteries needing to be recharged or that you can’t pour from an empty cup or put on your oxygen mask first before helping others. These statements make sense, yet there is stigma from self and others regarding self-care.
Unfortunately, a negative perception is associated with self-care. When one thinks about self-care and of putting yourself first, for some reason images come to mind of a cruel, puppy-hating, thief like Cruella from the 101 Dalmatians yelling “Me-Me-Me” or an image of an overindulgent person eating chocolate bon-bon’s, while not working and drinking martinis all-day, everyday at the detriment to others needs and responsibilities. This is a myth and a stigma that needs to be eliminated. Self-care is not evil, indulgent or selfish; it is essential for survival.
The very definition of selfishness is that of lacking consideration for others and being chiefly concerned with one's own personal profit or pleasure. However, according to Stephanie Grunewald, PhD of Restorative Counseling, “self-care is done with the intention of caring for yourself, not with the intention to harm or take from others. It is about replenishing your resources without depleting someone else's. Self-care is a means of restoring your own energy, which promotes healthy physical and emotional well-being.”
Signs you need a Mental Health Day (Self-Care Day):
These are signs and symptoms to pay attention to that may be notifying you of the importance of taking a mental-health day:
• Mood Changes:
You may feel crabby, irritable, disconnected with yourself, have increased anxiety and increased feelings of being depressed, overwhelmed, stressed, resentful of your responsibilities no matter how much you may like them, unappreciated daily, or you just don’t care about your work quality.
• Physical symptoms:
You may be getting sick a lot (headaches and stomach pain can be indicators of excessive stress), are having trouble sleeping or sleeping too much, are always exhausted, and have trouble focusing. Chronic stress weakens the immune system, making you more prone to illness during stressful periods according to the American Psychological Association.
• Unhealthy behaviors:
This can be increased or excessive drinking or substance abuse.
Talk with a Professional therapist:
Be aware of warning signs and symptoms that you are not coping well. While taking time-out for a mental health self-care day is important, it may not be enough especially if you are struggling with mental health symptoms such as anxiety, panic, depression, or an undiagnosed mental illness.
If you are experiencing symptoms for more than a two week period of time, contact others for support such as a professional therapist, your work HR department, a professor or academic advisor at school, or family and friends. Support is out there; just ask for it and advocate for yourself and your mental health needs. Go for a mental health check-up for screenings and to learn coping skills to manage your symptoms so it does not impact your daily functioning and overall mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.
Tips for taking a Mental Health Day:
Plan in advance and be proactive
1. Recognize the symptoms:
Instead of waiting until you're burned-out, stressed-out or physically sick, be preventative by putting plans in place before you are at your wits end. If possible, plan ahead in your schedule for a designated day or timeframe to focus on your mental health and overall self-care on a regular basis.
2. Know how to ask or tell others of your need:
Knowing your environment is important to know how and with whom to tell or ask for a mental health day.
• Student: If you are a student, know how to advocate for your mental health needs with your parents or professors. Do not assume people know or understand what you are feeling or going through. Speak up and advocate for what you need and what your plan is to fulfill your responsibilities while also taking the self-care time you need.
• Work: You do not necessarily need to let your boss know it’s a mental health day unless you want to. Research beforehand what work policies and benefits are available to you such as personal time off, taking a mental health day, sick day or using the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which allows workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for specific medical conditions. Understand if you need to ask the Human Resources department directly or a supervisor of what your time-off options are, and if possible, plan in advance on the calendar for your mental health day. At times, depending on your symptoms and needs, you may need to spontaneously call into work for time off. Knowing ahead of time how to do this will help alleviate some anxiety related to asking for time off.
• Family: If possible plan ahead with your family obligations for car-pools, cooking, attendance at activities and expectations from yourself and others. Ex: Have a family meeting, and plan in everyone’s schedule that Mom is taking a day-off or a day-away. The hardest part is for Mom to indeed take the self-care time and not guilt herself or be guilted into not really taking the much needed mental-emotional-health time-out. Remember, self-care is not selfish; it is essential to your self-preservation and sustainability so that in turn you can care for others. There has to be a time, hopefully one that’s consistent, on-going, and planned in an advanced time-frame where you refill your cup because you indeed cannot give out of an empty cup. When pushing yourself to give from a place of depletion, this is where symptoms indicating a greater problem arise.
Ideas for a Mental Health Day
Just like batteries, we need time to recharge and find ways to spend a mental health day. This looks differently for everyone, but think of what your needs are at this time. Listen to yourself. Be very intentional about having a low-stress, relaxing day practicing self-care. Connect with yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc. What do you need, and do you need to be active or inactive? How can you care for yourself today? Some ideas are:
• Do nothing if that is what you need. With active lives full of responsibilities, having a day of nothingness can be amazing for your mental health.
• Go to a beach or mountain area if time allows
• Get a Massage
• Acupuncture can alleviate pain and is good at relieving stress
• Listen to or play music
• Read a book or listen to an audio book
• Socialize; be with a friend
• Meditation, a great stress management skill
• Eat healthy, make a meal, or go to a favorite or new restaurant
• Go to a movie
• Take a bath
• Spend time with a pet
• Take a nap, rest, or lay in bed
• Sit in the sunshine getting lots of vitamin D
• Go for a walk or a hike; being outside walking in nature gives the opportunity to take your time while being mindful and living in the present moment.
• Take a Zumba or yoga class, go swimming or do some other exercise
• Unplug and disconnect from technology such as social media, phone calls, emails, and texting.
• Don’t overwork yourself
• Gardening or pulling weeds
• Watch your favorite t.v. show with a set timeframe to do so unless binge-watching will be renewing and restful to you.
• Do something creative; paint, journal, sew, pottery, garden.
• Have an appointment with your medical provider to rule-out that your symptoms are indicative of a greater health challenge.
• Have a mental health check-up with a professional therapist to look further into the symptoms that may be indicating further areas of support needed.
• Know when you need more time off. Evaluate if you need more time off before returning to your obligations. If you feel physically or emotionally ill, it may be a sign you need a little more time off, and you may need to have a mental health check-up with a professional therapist and physical health check-up with your medical provider.
The poet Maya Angelou stated, “Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.” Plan now for your mental-health day designated to focus on your mental, emotional health, wellness and self-care.
Roubicek & Thacker Counseling is Fresno’s premier provider of individual, couples, family, and group therapy. We offer in-person and online remote therapy sessions. Contact us today to change the way you feel.