Have you ever had to take a mental health day? I know I have. Mental health days are super important, yet for some reason they aren’t taken as seriously as sick days in our culture.
On this Random Rants with Annemarie, we will be talking about the importance of taking mental health days.
There have been points where I tell someone “Oh I was taking a mental health day, so I didn’t do this,” and they tell me to suck it up.
“A mental health day? Those aren’t REAL! Back-breaking labor till you pass out from exhaustion is the only thing I know!”
Yet they look at me like I’M the weirdo in this conversation.
Mental health is just as important as your physical health. Sometimes being not okay mentally leads to you being not okay physically. I cannot count the number of times I have been so anxious I physically felt sick, or the number of times I have been so exhausted I feel like a zombie because I am mentally not in a good place.
Mental health days should not be some taboo thing, they should be treated just like a sick day.
It’s time we drop the shame around the entire subject of mental health days. They shouldn’t be covered in mystery or treated as an unthinkable subject. That is absolutely silly. Instead, they should be talked about and regarded with the same severity as sick days.
Taking a mental health day isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of self-awareness and the readiness to help yourself. You cannot help others if you cannot help yourself first. Now, I can ramble on about how important it is to value mental health, but it would be cruel of me not to include ways to destigmatize it and ways to take care of your own mental health.
So here is a short list of things you can do:
Talk About It: Have open and honest conversations about mental health with friends and family. Don’t be afraid to open up to people. I know that it’s a daunting task sometimes, but in the long run, getting your feelings out helps. Share personal experiences to show that mental health affects everyone. By sharing stories and talking about it, people will feel more comfortable sharing their struggles, and if people share with you, it’ll be a whole healthy circle.
Media Matters: Encourage responsible and accurate media portrayals of mental health. Now, this does not mean harassing actors in roles after a character has been race or gender swapped. This means advocating for good representation all around and taking movies like SPLIT with a grain of salt.
Education: Promote mental health education in schools and workplaces. This is self-explanatory, but another action you can take is advocate for educational resources about mental health to be more widespread.
Some things you can do if you are feeling burnt out or maybe even depressed are listening to some music, talking to loved ones, firing up that old video game you loved, drawing, going on a walk and so much more. Try to do things that make you happy. Put on that charcoal mask and paint your nails! Go take a bath! Pamper yourself.
It is okay to not be okay.
I have had my fair share of mental health days, so let me paint a quick picture of what mine would look like.
Knowing what you like is important, and for me watching things I love and am passionate about help. I tend to rewatch my favorite shows and movies or start something completely new.
You never know what is going to be your new favorite! I watch Criminal Minds, American Horror Story, anything Marvel or DC and more. I tend to say something is my comfort show, yet the characters have never known a day of comfort their entire lives. Another thing I love to do is just throw on my essential oil diffuser and just meditate. The best way to meditate is to get into a dark room, then take deep breaths methodically and close your eyes. Try to clear your mind. If I can’t get my mind to calm down, that is perfectly fine. I then love going to relax next to the river in downtown Kent and just let nature envelop me.
Mental health comes in many shapes and sizes, so I hope this article provides you with some nice resources. I hope this also helps destigmatize something that should have been destigmatized a long time ago.
Annemarie Karabinus is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected].
