Current events and mental health

In 2020, easily one of the most stressful years of our lives, we have had our share of mental exhaustion and burnout. Burnout, as defined by the Free Medical Dictionary, is, “emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from a combination of exposure to environmental and internal stressors and inadequate coping and adaptive skills.” 

With a lot of things going on such as the Black Lives Matter movement, COVID-19, presidential elections, protests and riots, as well as even our own personal and mental health issues, it can be hard to remember to take care of ourselves. Staying informed and being active parts of our community while quarantining has made life much harder to handle. 

And that’s okay; it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, tired, sad/depressed, anxious, or any other way you feel because of everything going on in the world right now. Your feelings and emotions are valid, yours, and exist. Nevertheless, we need to take care of ourselves, especially in these hard times.

Personally, as a nonblack person who lives in the U.S., I have had to keep up with educating myself on the rampant racism in my country, the protests and riots, the BLM movement, and even making sure to undo the internalized racism I have grown up with. That, topped with personal and life issues, COVID-19 still being an active problem in the U.S., and everything else happening in the world such as Poland’s abortion issues, SARS, etc., it’s been hard dealing with everything and staying on top of it all. I’ve gotten overwhelmed with all the horrible news, trying to inform others of their own internalized racism, and trying to stay on top of my own personal situation. It’s hard to juggle life issues on a global, local, and personal level. And it’s even harder to do that during quarantine.

Not to mention taking care of myself. 

So I find it important to remind you that it’s okay to take a break from the news and current events. It’s okay to focus on immediate problems for you, like family issues, personal safety, homelessness, etc. You are not absolved of your responsibility to your global community, but one of your biggest responsibilities is to yourself. Without you, the world is short of another life, another activist, another change-maker. We have a responsibility to ourselves to enact self care so we can get back out there and fight the good fight. 

So here are some self care tips: 

• Take a hygiene break!
  • This can look like basic hygiene such as taking a bath, brushing your teeth, washing your face, etc.! 
  • It can also look a little less basic such as putting on lotion, a face mask, doing a bath scrub, having a skin care routine, etc.! 
• Put down your phone and do a social media and news cleanse for a while! For me that might be for a few hours but for you it might be for a few days; just make sure to do what YOU need!
• Have some alone time! I like to lie down in bed and listen to music with my eyes closed. 
• Do something you enjoy--like a hobby! 
  • Draw
  • Scrapbook
  • Watch TV
  • Enjoy a free learning course 
  • Polish your coin collection
  • Doing whatever sparks joy for you! It’s what you deserve.
• Vent to a friend or a trusted person about how you’re tired and burned out. 
• Go outside and take a breath of fresh air. 
• Take a drive, go for a stroll outside, or get out of the house. 

You’re gonna be okay. Things will get better. Just make sure to take care of yourself :) 

Keep your head up, the sun still rises
Mercury (Merc) Neon 

Helplines: 

• Crisis Text Line:     
  • Text HELP to 741741 in the United States.         
• Teen Line
  • Text "TEEN" to 839863 
  • Between 6:00pm-9:00pm PST 
• Suicide Prevention Hotline
  • 1-800-273-8255