A Practical Guide to Self-Care and Stress Management
Written by Aimee Oliveri (Clinical Psychologist & Mental Health Content Creator) in Collaboration with Clarity Health Care
In our fast-paced world, where demands and pressures are constant, taking care of your mental health is crucial. And yet, at times it can feel impossible. We’ve all seen those memes depicting someone in tears with the caption 'me trying to juggle my social life, finances, career, exercise routine, healthy diet, and sanity all at once.' These memes resonate with us because they highlight the unrealistic ideals that often surround mental health upkeep. In this blog post, we will delve into the realm of self-care and stress management, aiming to provide you with simpler and more authentic approaches to navigate life's many challenges.
Self-Care
What is Self-Care
Self-care is the proactive, deliberate and ongoing practice of nurturing your overall well-being. As such, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What’s more, self-care differs from day to day depending on our mental state; For instance, one day it might be taking a shower, another it may be beating our person run time record.
Self-Care in Practice
Tuning in
The key to self-care lies not in its appearance but in its impact. Therefore, self-care starts with self-awareness. Begin by asking yourself questions such as:
What actions can improve my short and long-term well-being?
What rejuvenates me when I'm drained?
What helps shift my mindset and find balance?
Are my needs emotional, physical, or something else?
Am I doing this for myself or to meet external expectations?
Doing What Works
Self-care means making choices that align with your well-being, even when they're challenging. For example, choosing not to hit the snooze button when you know you function better with a proper morning routine.
Balancing Your Needs
Self-care isn't synonymous with selfishness or consistently placing your needs above others. It involves considering your needs in every decision and adapting to your unique circumstances. Some days, self-care may entail leaving work early, while on others, it might involve working late. This approach to self-care is an ongoing process of flexibility, rather than adhering to a rigid routine. This approach helps strike a balance between self-care and other responsibilities.
Holistic Approach
Self-care encompasses various aspects of well-being, giving you plenty of options:
Physical: Caring for your body through adequate sleep, a balanced diet, exercise, treating physical illness, and hygiene.
Social: Balancing your social well-being through time with friends, finding solace in solitude, regulating your use of devices/social media, and, at times, letting go of toxic relationships.
Mental: Taking care of your mind through practices like self-compassion, maintaining a healthy inner dialogue, and engaging in mastery activities.
Emotional: Taking care of your emotions through journaling, confiding in friends, therapy, and cathartic experiences.
Spiritual: Nurturing your spirit through nature, religious practices, meditation, and creative expression.
Stress Management
To effectively manage stress, it's vital to understand it. Stress can manifest in two distinct forms: acute and chronic stress.
Acute Stress
Acute stress is short-term and results from specific stressful events or situations (aka stressors). It's a temporary heightened state triggered by events like tight work deadlines, arguments, or accidents. Symptoms (e.g., moodiness, muscle tension), are tied to the stressor and tend to fade when the stressor is resolved.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress persists long-term due to ongoing or multiple stressors, such as job-related stress, financial difficulties, health problems, or prolonged conflicts. Its symptoms, such as insomnia, memory problems, and brain fog, persist over time and are associated with various health concerns like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The strategies discussed below will assist with acute and chronic stress. However, managing chronic stress necessitates a more comprehensive approach, including lifestyle changes, therapy, and robust support systems.
Stress Management in Practice
Stress management involves various strategies to handle stressors and reduce their impact on mental and physical well-being.
Identify Stressors
Start by recognising what triggers stress in your life so you can address or avoid these triggers.
Set Realistic Goals
Once we know the source of stress, we can establish a goal. For example, if you’re facing a tight deadline, your goal might be to make an action plan for getting the work done.
Problem Solve
Understanding the source of stress and defining your goal provides insight, enabling effective problem-solving. This is where our strategies come in. Depending on the situation, we may need to focus on:
Time Management: Managing your time efficiently can significantly reduce stress. This involves crafting a well-organised timetable, prioritising tasks, to-do lists and breaking them into manageable segments.
Assertiveness: Assertiveness plays a crucial role in stress management. It's okay to decline additional commitments when your workload is too much. You might also need to engage in challenging conversations if someone is hindering your ability to do your job.
Relaxation: If the psychological and physiological effects of stress are taking a toll, you can soothe your nervous system with relaxation techniques like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or exercise.
Mindfulness: When stress hinders your concentration, these practices can help you stay in the moment, reduce racing thoughts, and enhance your overall well-being.
Recovery Self-Care: If a stressor becomes overwhelming or you start experiencing burnout, consider making time for some recovery self-care, such as getting a good night’s sleep or taking a day off.
Distinguishing Self-Care from Stress Management
You may have noticed that ‘recovery self-care’ is listed under stress management, so are they the same thing?
While self-care and stress management are closely related, they have distinct purposes:
Self-care is a proactive approach to maintaining overall well-being, thus creating a robust foundation for stress management.
Stress management is reactive, helping you respond to stress in an effective way, thus reducing the impact of stress.
Summing Up
In summary, both self-care and stress management are essential for maintaining a balanced and healthy life. Self-care takes a proactive approach to managing stress, while stress management is reactive. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Find what works best for you and create a balanced approach.
If you're struggling with stress, please seek support. You don't have to navigate this journey alone. Contact Clarity Health Care here for guidance on booking an appointment with one of our mental health clinicians, including very experienced Psychologist and Clinical Psychologists.
The key interventions our Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists are trained in include:
Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR Therapy)
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Schema Therapy
Motivational Interviewing
Family and Couples Therapy