Self-Care for Bad Mental Health Days | How I Take Care of Myself

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It’s not a secret that I haven’t been doing so hot mentally in recent times. So obviously, I decided to turn that into content! No, all jokes aside, I just thought writing about how I take care of myself when times get rough might help someone else, too. A mandatory disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a therapist, just a human with a brain that can be mean sometimes. Additionally, I am very aware that my mental health looks different than yours and my bad days might be your best days. This is simply a list of things that I know work for me!

Personally, I really like reading about self-care strategies other people use to manage their bad days, weeks and months because I’m always looking for new things to try. So without further ado, here’s my take on self-care for bad mental health days.

1) Stay Hydrated

Please don’t get out your pitchforks. I know, I know, drinking water is boring and hard and we’d rather not. Unfortunately, my own very scientific expertise of existing in a human body has resulted in firm evidence: enough water helps my brain not be quite as cranky. So grab a glass and get some hydration. It’ll help. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t do sparkling water. I take mine flat, straight from the tap because I’m boring like that. But maybe you’re all about the fancy strawberries or some lemon, I’m not judging. Covering your body’s basic needs is the most important aspect of self-care for bad mental health days. If I can’t manage to do anything else, I try and get hydrated and eat some food.

2) Put On Different Clothes

Before the global panini, I was the kind of person who wore jeans on a daily basis, even at home. Safe to say, I am no longer that person. I live in sweatpants and sports bras, thank you very much. Regardless, I still make an effort to put on a different pair of sweatpants than the ones I slept in. It’s comfy but still makes me feel a little more like a human-shaped blob that has its life together.

3) Do Something Nice for Yourself

Admittedly, this is so broad and vague that it might make you go “but Lay, there’s so many things!” Don’t worry, I got you. I’ve put some of my go-to Nice Things into different categories. Actually, I keep a list! When things get bad it’s easy to feel like there’s nothing you can do. I also tend to forget every single thing I enjoy. Head empty, no thoughts. So having a list that you made when your brain isn’t a bully can be immensely helpful

Physical Nice Things

• take a bath or shower. Unfortunately, I’m not blessed with a bathtub in my student dorm so long showers it is.

• moisturise! I am extra guilty of forgetting and telling myself “ah, my skin doesn’t need it”. Yes, it does and I like smelling nice and feeling soft. Soft skin for a soft and mushy me.

• do all the luxurious body care stuff. Face mask, hair mask, fancy body scrub? Do it. I like to pretend I’m some celebrity getting ready for a red carpet event because it gives the whole routine that lovely air of luxury. However, this is the kind of stuff that might be hard to do on the really bad days. It feels kind of pointless when your brain is a mess. I’m not gonna fix my depression with a face mask but hey, maybe I can be a depressed potato with clean skin. I contain multitudes.

• move your body. It doesn’t have to be any kind of structured exercise that’ll make you hate your life. I tend to have a little dance party in my room to whatever happy songs I like at the moment. Go find a good playlist, make your own or simply pretend to be Taylor Swift giving a concert. I can vouch for that one.

Mental Nice Things

• meditate. I am so so bad at this. I’ve been trying and failing to establish a consistent meditation practice for years. But hey, I’m still trying. There’s a bunch of apps and YouTube videos with guided meditations but you can also just sit in silence and focus on your breath. I grumpily have to admit that yes, meditation does actually make my brain feel better, ugh.

• journal. Go on, grab one of the 20 empty notebooks you bought and have been to scared to use. I know you have them because I most certainly do. I don’t use journal prompts because my brain is so full of stuff that I rarely run out of things to write about. But your mileage may vary, so maybe you’d like to find some prompts to get the words flowing! I write down my worries and anxieties and try and find solutions and actionable steps. It’s amazing how much putting words onto the page can put things into perspective.

• read your favourite book or watch your comfort movie. I wouldn’t be a book blogger without talking about books, now would I? Whenever my mental health is bad or I’m stressed and overwhelmed, I gravitate towards my favourite media. My favourite book is The Martian. It has a great audiobook that drowns out my thoughts, makes me laugh and gives me hope for humanity. The fact that I’ve listened to it 3 times already this week probably says a lot about how my brain is doing right now. Either way, as the kids say: go read a book, bestie! Or watch a movie, I’m not your boss. I’ve found that childhood favourites work wonders on bad days. Or dance films, they’re my absolutely not guilty pleasure.

• talk to someone. Preferably that someone is a human, a friend or parent or if you’re lucky even a therapist (still waiting for that one lol). But if your social energy is low, that someone can also just be a pet or your favourite plant. Similarly to journaling, I know that talking through my struggles and worries heps gain perspective and make overwhelming things seem less life-threatening. I’m glad to have a great support system of friends who’ll help me navigate my Big Bad Brain.

• play a video game. Now, I’m not a huge gamer. However, Animal Crossing owns my whole heart. Catching fish is so relaxing and sometimes I just run around my island and look at the sunset. Good stuff. It gets me out of my head and calms me down because hey, I don’t have to worry about my real life for a second. Your comfort game of choice might be something entirely different (please let me know in the comments, I love finding new stuff!). You deserve to have fun even when your brain is being a dick. We deserve to do nice things.

Sleep

We all know that sleep is important, I won’t bore you with that. Some days are bad. Sometimes, I just want the day to end so I can start over again the next day. On those days, I simply go to bed early. No shame in declaring the day over whenever you see fit. Tomorrow, I get to try again and maybe, just maybe it won’t be quite as bad.

Some Closing Words

I want you to know that you’re not alone. You might feel alone, I know I certainly do. On bad mental health days, I feel like I’m the only inhabitant of planet earth. But that’s not true. There are so many people, a lot of them who feel very similar and can definitely understand what’s happening in your brain. I know it’s tough. If like me, you don’t have access to therapy or other professional help quite yet, shit kinda sucks. A lot. All we can do is try to manage our brains to the best of our abilities. I hope you got something out of my little self-care for bad mental health ramble. If anything, I hope it distracted you a little from whatever nasty things your brain is telling you. We got this, we can get through this.

Let’s Chat!

✨What are your go-to self-care activities for bad mental health days?

✨Which books, movies or games bring you comfort? Let’s share some recommendations!

Onto better times and nicer brains,

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