This article seeks to highlight the unquestionable importance of self-care in everyday life. Self-care is paramount to survival and this article will review the essential skills necessary to continue and maintain basic to complex life functions. While each of us individually have different job functions, and carry out different life operations, there are certain Activities of Daily Living that must be nurtured and maintained to continue living without running into medical and psychiatric problems that can be avoided by adhering to the care of the self. As always, be sure to review these self-care skills with your PCP (Primary Care Physician), psychiatrist and mental health professional bore implementing them in your living environment.

The most simple basic measure for caring for the self with a mental health diagnosis is your nutrition. Poor nutrition is often overlooked by people carrying a mental health diagnosis as a reason for mood dys-regulation as well as a litany of other diagnoses including ADHD, and other behavioral problems in children & adolescents. For example, dys-regulation of diabetes in adolescents can cause behavioral problems, acting out, and other oppositional features associated with many conduct disorders. Be sure to consult with a nutritionist at the onset of any mental health diagnosis to rule out medical conditions exacerbating your condition.

A more moderate skill or technique to promote self-care with a mental health diagnosis is daily exercise. There are many disorders, and medication therapies that increase lethargy and the propensity for obesity. Sometimes, if you are taking enough medications that have sedative side effects you may not want to get out of bed to do anything. Laying in bed all day is the worst thing you can do to in terms of beginning to re-balance your metabolism again and maintain a healthy weight which, if not taken seriously, can become a further complication for the medication management of your mental health condition. Some psychotropic medication therapies do have side effects that promote weight gain. If you are not able to care for yourself and maintain a healthy weight certain medication therapies will be restricted or not considered appropriate for you given your evidenced difficulty monitoring your weight.

An even more complex activity of daily living, maintaining socially acceptable hygiene is something that requires a degree of self-awareness and practice if you have a mental health diagnosis limiting your insight into how to effectively care for yourself. There is no question getting into the shower, remembering to use de-odorant, and keeping clean is even more challenging when you are carrying specific diagnoses which decrease your motivation to stay on top of your daily functions and increase other functions which complicate ongoing self-care activities. So, if you cant get your hygiene taken care of in the morning, remember to complete small tasks during the day. Keep travel size hygiene supplies with you at all times so when you are up to completing your ADL’s, you can, anywhere, and be ready for any activity clean shaven and odor free.

The most difficult self-care strategy for those carrying a mental health diagnosis is tuning-in to yourself. Are you tired? Overworked? Are you taking time for pleasurable activities? Are you having effective sessions with your therapist or psychiatrist? Monitor your moods and thoughts regularly to check-in with yourself often and identify if you need to do some work or time spent in therapy around cultivating mood regulation techniques or for learning skills to re-frame negative thought patterns into more positive associations. Further blog posts will review these more advanced skills in further detail. Check back here soon for regular self-care updates.