The Fight for Rest
Despite the many leaps our society has made regarding mental health, research shows that many people still have a stigma towards seeking therapy (Zaninotto, et al., 2018). Perhaps this stigma can be connected to "hustle culture" and the glamorizing of the go-go-go.
In many countries, addressing mental health issues is often met with criticism. Naturally, this discourages people from admitting they are feeling more than just "exhaustion." Concepts such as self-care, meditation, or taking a mental break don't carry importance for a consistently criticized person who needs a break. If you've been invalidated long enough, you may begin to internalize the idea that your symptoms can be cured simply by pushing yourself harder and harder until you break. When we're going at this speed non-stop, there's no time to prevent burnout.
The battle against burnout is only made worse by negative ideas towards self-care. Everybody is at risk of burnout at different points in their lives and careers, especially during the pandemic when they're carrying the possibility of a new reality on their shoulders while juggling their already stressful lives. It's not easy to prioritize self-care or time off work. If the bruises aren't showing, then it's probably not hurting anywhere, right?
Because of this stigma, even the thought of self-care seems selfish. Can I encourage you to reframe this entire idea? What if we tell ourselves, "I need to take care of myself first so that I can take care of others around me."
Even if we find the time to take a break, we know that our pile of responsibilities will continue to add up. Of course, rest doesn't eliminate our to-do list; however, in our rest, we're focusing on providing ourselves with enough energy to deal with those things that cause us stress. If the motivation will come from stepping away from that pile for a while, then so be it. The negative perceptions towards mental health and self-care will remain negative until slowly but surely we step out of our comfort zone to try it.
Allowing rest will create a wave of acceptance towards maintaining your mental health and hopefully even eliminating the negative stigma attached. So, if you feel that the pile can take over your life at any moment - please try and go easy on yourself. Humans aren't wired to withstand constant stress. Take a break, eat some chocolate, or dance to some new tunes. Rest will make coming back to your responsibilities a lot less daunting. We all could use a little rest and respite right now, which in turn can make life a little more manageable.
