Self care

I hear a lot about self care, you know, the idea that it is okay to take care of you first, before anyone else, it's not a bad concept honestly, we, especially women, but men too, tend to be taught that doing something nice for yourself when there are responsibilities at hand, or other people you could be caring for, or really anything productive you could be doing, is selfish. This is of course stupid and wrong, and harmful in the long and short run, especially to those with depression, that idea just makes you feel worse because now in addition to feeling like shit, you feel like shit because you aren't meeting a programmed expectation rather than working to feel better. Taking time out to care for yourself is generally a pretty good idea if you can manage it, and doing something fun, or having a snack, or spending a day resting once in a while are great ways to refresh and motivate.

It can be taken too far though.

Self care and self indulgence are two different things, if you haven't eaten anything but crackers and hot pockets for the last three days, and your pajamas are now a part of you, you may be crossing the line between the two, self care kind of includes actually caring for the self too, not just faffing about.

Keep in mind I am not saying "Get a job hippy" I get that depression and other mental health issues may not allow one to do that easily for long periods of time, it certainly did that to me anyway, but I am saying that  it helps to occasionally eat a vegetable, or take a shower, as a break from binge watching anime. Sometimes the small things help break out of a depressive cycle, sometimes they don't, and that is okay, but at least doing them once in a while means you don't die of scurvy or something.

And some days that might just be enough.