As National Health Literacy Month comes to an end, I learned some valuable lessons about my personal mental health. After reading articles regarding mental health concerns and multiple social media posts from individuals that use their social outlets to share their experience, I had a self-realization that I wasn’t protecting my own mental health. Over the course of the month, I found myself losing sleep, becoming overwhelmed, and taking my frustration out on the people around me. Noticing I wasn’t acting like myself, I knew I needed a mental break. Find out how multiple media outlets helped my mental health over the course of a month.
Noticing I Wasn’t Acting Like Myself
With my hectic schedule and my lack of schedule for self-care, I started to get easily frustrated with the little things. When it came to my social life I became more and more distant from the people I care about. I found myself not wanting to go out or maintain conversations. The usual me would be ready to go out anytime and I love talking, so when I noticed my actions were no longer representing myself. I became apologetic for everything I said or did.
I was well aware of the person I was becoming, but I wasn’t able to control the way my attitude came off towards people because I was still overwhelmed about my daily responsibilities. So rather than taking a step back, I felt it was either to ask for forgiveness later. Before I ruined any of the relationships I cherished I knew this emotional hump in my life had to stop.
The Media Gave Me A Reality Check
Throughout the entire National Health Literacy Month, there were multiple health awareness articles on some of my favorite online publications like Her Campus Media, Fashionista, and The Teen Mag. Even as an editor I came across a bunch of articles that raised awareness of the issues. Social Media platforms offered daily inspiration and shared helpful facts regarding mental health for young adults.
The little things like Wellness Wednesday’s on Her Campus Montclair’s weekly Instagram Stories offered me weekly reminders on ways to cope with my stress. My explore page on Instagram had inspirational quotes at almost every scroll. My twitter had countless posts regarding health awareness and people sharing their experiences. Whenever I opened my social media I had a reality check that my actions weren’t reflecting the right things. The more I read, the more disappointed I felt in my actions. So instead of constantly reading about ways to handle my behaviors, I took action.
Telling Myself It Was Time for a Break
I wasn’t willing to lose the people I cared about because of my repetitive actions so I decided to take a step back and work on myself. I made a list of people I knew I created negative spaces with and told them I needed to take a break from them. I made it clear that it wasn’t anything against them, but I knew to protect the relationship I needed to step away and work on myself.
Having the realization that I was in the wrong and knowing I had things to work on was a huge step in the right direction for me. I had a daily journaling session that forced me to reflect on my words and my actions that day. I also practiced daily words of affirmation to remind myself of the things I’m grateful for, what I’m working on, and things I’m proud of.
Knowing when it’s time to take a break is extremely important to our mental health. There’s only so much a person can take before they reach a limit. I saw myself reach my limit and it caused me to become someone I didn’t like. The media’s persistent dedication to promoting health awareness and providing their audiences with proper steps to protecting their mental health helped me realize I wasn’t protecting my own mental health. By using the media as the first step in the right direction I was able to return to the person I’m proud of being and protect my relationships in the process and now I’m able to share my experience. Maintaining one’s mental health to me is about self-realization, self-reflection, and self-care and I plan on practicing this daily.