https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xOA7dKSThWY Hey! Welcome to my fourth entry at MC Voices, today I will be showing…
Hello Raptors! I’m typing today by the side of my two best friends, Sojourner McKinzie and Pamela Orellana, both of whom are also MC students! Today I’m gonna talk about finding balance between school, other responsibilities, and your mental health.
Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, and mental health is always important to talk about. I want to discuss self-care today by interviewing my friends.
T: How are you guys today?
S: New episode of Broad City today so! Pumped!
P: Yaaaasss!!!
T: Ditto. So you guys know yesterday was World Mental Health Day.
S + P: Yes, definitely.
T: Did you do anything special to take care of yourself?
P: Umm… oh! yes! I went to the gym! It’s something that I know is good for me.
S: No… I had too many responsibilities to take care of…
T: I hear that. I had an excellent therapy session yesterday! So, what does self-care look like to you guys?
P: I haven’t been super good about doing it but, working out and writing in my journal. And I do face masks sometimes!
T: I think you’re better about it than you think. Sojo?
S: Most of the time I do Self-Care Sundays, which is like giving myself a mani-pedi, and I do my hair, and a face mask, and I rest. I try not to leave the house and deal with people if it’s not necessary. I watch funny TV shows and try to relax and laugh, maybe try to write a little bit.
T: That sounds stellar, dude. How do you balance your mental health with your day to day life?
S: *sighs* That’s a hard question…
P: I can answer! I’m… aware of it. You know what I mean? I’m aware that mental health is a thing, making sure I take my medicine, making sure I’m aware and ask for help when I need it.
S: I’m not sure I so much balance my mental health, more that I push it to the backburner. My social anxiety can be crippling, sometimes I don’t leave my house for days at a time, but sometimes I have to, you know, grocery shop and go to class, so I have to suck it up and deal.
It’s hard to find time to take care of yourself, but it’s important. And if you think you need a little more help than you yourself are capable of, seek someone out. You can always make an appointment to talk to one of the lovely counselors through Starfish. If you are in a crisis situation or feel like hurting yourself in any way, you can text START to 741741, or visit imalive.org or crisischat.org, or you can call the Montgomery County Crisis Center Hotline at 240-777-4000. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and mental illness can be just as debilitating as physical illness. Why should one be treated any different than the other? Take care of yourselves, raptors.
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Hey Taylor, I really like this post! Mental health is something so important yet rarely talked about. Thanks for bringing it to light!
I appreciate you talking about mental health. I loved the shape breathing exercise you put in your blog. I am looking forward to read more post from you.
This is a great post Taylor! I love your creativity in this and the fact that it is about Mental Health! People need people and sometimes we need to hear stories to not feel so bad our own situations. I’m honored to be blogging with such great people as you all 😉
Taylor this is such a great post especially for teens. Mental health is such a big issue in which many students (like me) struggle with anxiety. I really thought this was super helpful and informative. You have great sense of humor which made me feel comfortable and super welcoming to open up to a hard topic like this. Keep it up!
Super post Taylor! I love the diagrams and the breathing shape! There are so many people suffering with mental health issues today and most often they go unaddressed or people self medicate (too much drinking, etc.). I am also starting to believe that our foods are poisoning us and creating some of these issues. I went to a great seminar yesterday by an N.D. and it was about how inflammation in our body (can be caused by foods) is responsible for not only cancer, arthritis, and diabetes but also anxiety and depression.
I love the self care wheel. Many people don’t realize that the quality of our mental health depends on the tending to many aspects of life. It not just about keeping busy as some might believe. The concept of balance needs to be emphasizes in mental health. For example, our physical and emotional wellbeing is just as important as our professional lives. All areas of the wheel affect the others.
I love the self care wheel. It really depicts the areas of life that need tending to. Life is really about balance. For example, I am in the process of scaling back work so that I can make more time for exercise and family.
Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.