“Mental health” is thrown around a lot these days but what does it actually mean and how does it affect you? The scholarly definition is “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”. To break it down, Mental Health is a key component in ensuring that we can make decisions, communicate effectively, handle challenges that are both known and unknown and ultimately helping you live your life.
Now, whilst the world is becoming a lot more open to the idea that discussing your Mental Health isn’t that taboo topic it was always been made out to be, there are still negative connotations surrounding it and that stigma only serves to make it more difficult to speak up if you’re going through a time of poor Mental Health. There are so many things that can contribute to a mental health decline from things like a stressful home situation and the cost of living crisis to a complicated and heavy workload and other pressures of the work place. No one person will handle burdens the same way as another, everyone has different limits, different ways of coping, different support available and so its key to not compare yourself to others who are in a similar situation, just because they look like they’re handling something better, doesn’t mean the burden isn’t heavy all the same.
Now, as many (if not all) the readers of this will be legal students or people working in the legal field, I am sure you are all too familiar with the pressures of work/study life and some of you might even be balancing both at the same time. As students, aspiring legal professionals and as humans just trying to do the right thing, we all suffer for stress. Sometimes its more, sometimes its less but stress always has and probably always will be there. What’s important is that we leave that stress where it’s meant to be. Work stress needs to stay at work and home stress? You guessed it, needs to stay at home. If you’re anything like me though, that’s easier said than done and both my home stress and work stress are best friends who love to hang out on the weekend. So, what can you do to try and split these two up?
Over the past few months, following the KLJD Wellbeing Event which saw Dr Maxine Stead come and talk about Mental Health and Wellbeing, I have implemented what I call #CreativeFriday which sees me try new ways to help relax, unwind and destress from the work week. This has covered activities such as building Lego, baking, reading, film watching and even once just making myself do nothing and I can honestly say I can see a difference in myself. Before, trying to switch off at the end of the work week took far more time than I wanted it to and by the time I’d finally managed it, I was switching my brain back on and getting ready for work again and I was left wondering “where did my weekend go?”. Now I find that I leave those particular pressures behind so much quicker because I am solely focused on the task in front of me (and when I’m baking, I even get a sweet treat out of it!).
Your #CreativeFriday might not look like mine, but at the end of the day #CreativeFriday is about the act of making time for YOU. It is about doing something that YOU want to do, something which you know you enjoy and want to do more of. It is so incredibly easy to think, “oh, I’ll get round to that tomorrow” or “I’ll try that when I have the time” but before we know it, tomorrow has passed and suddenly something else has filled our time. Don’t miss out on the simple opportunity to make yourself happy, to indulge yourself even just a little. Taking time for you isn’t a waste, it is not something you should feel guilty for, and it will only benefit you in the long run. So, whether it’s a Monday or a Sunday, a morning or an evening, try and have a little #CreativeFriday and #LetsGetCreative!
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