Even as things are getting back to normal as the vaccination rate increases, life is still hard for a lot of folks. Living a year in a pandemic is mentally trying and the fact that one is vaccinated and fairly safe does not mean everything springs back to normal.
There is still trepidation, and there are still the lingering after effects from the isolation.
This year, as suicide rates rose–especially among teens and young adults–the mental health of the nation has been a focus. Recently, tennis player Naomi Osaka (the world’s highest-paid female athlete) pulled out of the French Open and Wimbledon to take care of her mental health.
While Osaka initially took flack for just wanting to pull out of the portions of the tournament that heightened her anxiety and depression, she got mostly praise for taking time off from tennis altogether. I’m not sure what that says about our culture and work ethic, though. Does it suggest that figuring out specifically what drains you and dealing with that is bad (because you must do everything put before you)? Does it suggest that the only thing you can do when you have a mental health problem is drop out of society to deal with it? That you can’t work while you work through mental health challenges?
I don’t know. And I don’t know what the best thing is with a mental health challenge. Some, like deep depression or suicidal thoughts, may need to be comprehensively treated before you can attend to other parts of your life. But I would imagine, other challenges should allow you to continue to work, with an accommodation, as you forged ahead on your mental health challenges.
Regardless of which approach is best, I do think Osaka’s plight reminds us that we do need to take time to deal with our mental health. That’s the foundation of who we are and where we’re at. We need to be strong mentally, so we can function in our lives and support those who need supporting. It is a joy to help others, but sort of like in the airplane emergency situations, we have to put our oxygen masks on first, before we help others.
Our mental well being is our oxygen mask. It’s important to tend to it.
Do you have a plan for taking care of your mental health? If so, what do you do when you see the stress coming for you?
Re