Mental Health Awareness Month. Things I Do For Self Care

Thank you so much for all the support you're giving to my Mental Health Awareness articles. You've no idea how much it means to me. 💜 This will probably be my last post on the series, but I decided to discuss mental health and books in my blog a lot more, so I might share a few more posts in the future. Today I'm sharing things I do for self-care aka things I do to try to keep my mental health in shape. 

I read. To plunge into books helps me keep my mental health in shape. As I discussed previously, books are an escape from the daily routine. They open doors to new worlds that portray tales different from my own. Fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, etc, worlds that are different from the one I face every day are able to make me forget, even if it's just for a moment, what troubles my mind, pushing worries and concerns aside and diminishing my anxiety. 

Far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells... Everything I need in a book when I'm feeling down.

I blog. Sharing my thoughts and gushing about books always makes me happy. This might be a stressful hobby, but I can no longer stress myself about the number of views and comments nor blogging ahead and having posts up every week. I blog whenever I can and, most importantly, when I feel like to. I try not to get involved in blog tours or request too many ARCs when I'm aware that I will not have the time to review them on time (and even if I happen not to read/review a book on time, I tell myself not to feel guilty about it because I will read and review the post as soon as I can).

I write. I can't lie: writing doesn't keep my mental health in shape as much as it used to. I still love to pick up a pencil and write down the stories that haunt my mind. There's nothing more relaxing and fulfilling than creating something from the scratch. However, after more than a decade writing and editing my stories, I have nothing to show (my anxiety makes it really hard for me to have the courage to show my writing to anyone) and that is stressful. I've finished a few short-stories, but I never seem to be able to finish anything that I begin - but I know that it's because I find endings to be bittersweet and I try to avoid as much as I can until it becomes impossible.

Cats make writing/blogging seem so easy.

I play video games. I just realized that I really need to find more time to play video games because my collection keeps growing and I haven't played yet some of these games. Much like reading, playing video games offers escapism, but with a touch of challenge. I'm not saying that reading can't be challenging (English isn't my native language and I usually find myself searching for the meaning of certain words). It's just that when faced with a boss fight in a book, my heart doesn't start beating too fast against my chest because I only have to read about the characters facing the villains. Playing gives me an active role. Does it make sense? Anyway, I have been playing video games since my childhood (that's why I always annoy you to no end when remasters/remakes of games such as Spyro, Medieval and Crash Bandicoot are announced) and I can always find some comfort in them when I'm feeling anxious. Video games take me back to simpler times.  

I watch television series. Maybe I should have put reading, playing video games and watching series on the same bullet point? I mean, all these keep my mental health in shape because they are means of escaping the real world. I'm addicted to TV series and for that reason I'm addicted to Netflix. I just love how Netflix allows me to watch series at my own rhythm - I can binge watch a series, watch an episode per day or spend a few week without watching a single episode with no fear of losing it. After a long day, it's always relaxing to sit on the couch with a blanket or a cat and get immersed in stories filled with plot twists and mysteries.

The perfect end after a long and stressful day.

I try to meditate. Okay, so I just started meditating this week (in fact, I started two days ago and I've already missed one day because I was feeling too sleepy) and it somewhat helps? Concentrating on my breathing does quiet the voices inside my mind (I still don't believe there are people out there that don't live with an inner voice inside their head all the time). I'm hoping meditation will tackle my sleepless nights because counting sheep does not work for me at all.

I pet my cats, even though I'm sure they think I'm annoying them. This one is self-explanatory, right?

Related blog post: 37 YA Books About Mental Health

To celebrate the Mental Health Awareness Month, I created a design inspired by Eliza and Her Monsters. I'm hoping to donate fifty per cent of the gains to ADBE, a Portuguese association that helps people with depression and bipolarity. 

What do you do to keep your mental health in shape?

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