6 Reminders For When You’re Having A Hard Time Taking Care Of Your Mental Health 

1. You are allowed to relax. You are allowed to call out of work or cancel plans with your friends or reward yourself with a lazy day in bed. Of course, that isn’t alway easy to do. A lot of the time, the reason you’re so stressed is because you have a million different goals to accomplish, problems to solve, decisions to tackle. Taking a break might seem counterintuitive, but if you keep going at this pace, you’re going to burn yourself out. If you give yourself at least a few hours of downtime, it will clear your head. It will reenergize you. In the end, it will be easier for you to get everything done if you rest first.

2. You need to stop underestimating your own pain. Yes, everyone has problems. Yes, everyone gets frustrated from time to time. But if you’re struggling, you shouldn’t shrug your shoulders and decide to handle your issues on your own because what you’re experiencing isn’t that big of a deal. If you’re having a hard time, you should talk to someone. You should ask for help. You shouldn’t force yourself to figure it out alone.

3. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not unlovable. You’re not a failure. You’re not screwed up. You’re simply going through a hard time right now. It’s easy for your mind to play tricks on you. It’s easy to feel like the whole world is against you, like your friends want nothing to do with you, like you’re never going to reach your wildest dreams — but you have to remind yourself those are feelings, not facts. Feelings can change. Feelings aren’t going to stay the same forever.

4. This isn’t the first time you’ve experienced pain. You’ve felt this hopeless before — but you still managed to make it until this moment. You pushed through your problems. You survived your heartaches and your losses and your fears and your embarrassments. You’re still here, despite all of the bullshit this life has thrown at you. Whether you realize it or not, your persistence means you’re strong. It means you’re more durable than you think. It means you can get through today and tomorrow, too.

5. When you’re struggling with your mental health, you need to distance yourself from the things that are causing you unnecessary stress. Unfortunately, social media isn’t always your friend, which is why you should log out of your social media accounts. Turn off the news. Turn off your phone. Stop worrying about what other people are doing with their lives. Stop clogging your brain with distractions. Give yourself some time to clear your head, some time to sit with your own thoughts and digest your own feelings.

6. Even though you might feel like your world is falling apart right now, you’re going to be okay. But you need to start taking care of yourself. You need to consider yourself a top priority. You need to look yourself in the mirror and admit you are worthwhile, you deserve to be healthy, and you deserve to experience happiness.