On Self-Care

On Self-Care:

“A few short years of twee self-care tips has convinced mentally-well people everywhere that depression is something you can just wash off in a bubble bath.

Tip: if a mentally ill person is talking about self-care, they probably mean brushing their teeth or making a sandwich. In my experience and from the stories of others, self-care is rarely a candlelit bubble bath with luxurious pampering.

If YOU personally are mentally ill and bubble baths help YOU, I’m not saying that YOU are doing it wrong. My complaint is that people who aren’t mentally ill believe “take a bubble bath!” is the cure for mental illness.

Part of the problem is that a lot of us who are mentally ill do not have the energy or the voice to write seventy thinkpieces a week about yoga and bubblebaths that “allies” do.

If a bubblebath is your mental health self-care, there’s nothing wrong with that and I’ve yet to say that there is. My issue is with the perception that self-care is always some sumptuous, instagram-worthy moment of beautifully staged decadence.”

~ Jenny Trout, Author

#MentalHealth #SelfCare #EndStigma