{"id":246932,"date":"2024-03-04T13:10:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T21:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/?p=246932"},"modified":"2024-03-04T13:11:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T21:11:01","slug":"mental-health-self-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Steps To Get Started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you consider yourself a generally health-minded person, then there are certain things you would just not do to yourself. Would you start smoking? Eat nothing but junk food? Drink alcohol daily? Deprive yourself of sleep? Of course not \u2013 health-minded people take care of themselves. That said, can you honestly say that you put yourself through a basic routine of mental health self-care? Are you familiar with what that looks like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our team of mental health professionals at SoCal Empowered has long believed that good health involves both the physical and mental sides of life. Handling just one is not enough, but making sure you engage in mental health self-care should not seem daunting. Instead, it should just be part of your routine. If it\u2019s done right, it will simply become part of who you are, and the benefits will continue to show themselves throughout your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are going to present a series of articles going forward on different ideas for mental health self-care. Doing so could help you or a loved one put any mental struggles you\u2019re experiencing into perspective. Not to mention, if you take these steps and you still find yourself having extreme difficulties, it should be a clear signal that it\u2019s time to contact us for a more involved level of intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every mental health self-care plan starts with a foundation. Below we\u2019re going to present that before getting into more specific ideas in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.      Take Stock of Your Situation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mental health self-care starts just like any other form of self-care: by taking stock of your situation. If you’ve ever decided that it was time to get into better physical condition, you wouldn\u2019t start by running a marathon the next morning. Instead, you\u2019d take some time to perhaps write down your challenges and what you want to accomplish with your efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That should be the first step with a mental health self-care plan. Take a few minutes to sit down and write out some answers to questions like the ones you see below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What types of struggles are you experiencing?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Are you depressed? Anxious? Stressed?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. How is your sleep?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Have your eating habits changed?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Are there situations that trigger problematic responses?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. What types of things help you get through the tough days?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Are you losing interest in things you\u2019ve always enjoyed?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Is your inner voice getting louder and more negative?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Do you have troubling thoughts that seem to come from nowhere?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Does it all just seem overwhelming at times?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Every plan, if it\u2019s going to be effective, needs a starting point. Understanding more about what you\u2019re dealing with is the best way to get a visual on what you need to do going forward. The answers to these types of questions could prove invaluable as you handle this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.      Talk to Your Doctor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    In almost every situation in which you may be making changes to your lifestyle, it\u2019s wise to talk to your doctor before doing so. For instance, changing your diet, your exercise routine or anything else that could affect how you feel should include the input of the person who has been helping you maintain your overall health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He or she is going to be able to offer advice on several fronts as well as warn you about risks you may encounter given your health status. No one is better equipped to look at your health history, current data and potential pitfalls with regards to your mental health self-care plan. Taking this step will also clear your mind of any concerns regarding whether or not you\u2019re doing the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3.      Be Honest with Yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    One of the most difficult things in life for a lot of people is being honest with themselves. Some people look in the mirror and see someone who needs to lose weight no matter what, while others may lean the other way. Regardless, self-perception is a challenging concept. That’s because we are alone with our thoughts every second of every day, and our inner voice is extremely persuasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Therefore, as you start to build your mental health self-care plan, you need to do your best to provide yourself with an honest assessment of all things you. It may even be wise to seek the input of trusted friends or loved ones in order to do so, as what they may have to say could be unexpected but extremely valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4.      Be Realistic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If you decide that you need to lose a significant amount of weight, then telling yourself you\u2019re going to lose 30 pounds in the next month is only setting yourself up to fail. Few if any people can do that safely or in a way that\u2019s maintainable. You need to be realistic in your approach to your physical health. Not doing so could lead to undue risk or goals that are not achieved because they were never really possible in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The same holds true when it comes to your mental health self-care plan. If you find yourself struggling with different challenges, you\u2019re not going to completely eliminate them in a matter of days, weeks or perhaps even months simply by making a few small changes in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead, you need to give yourself the opportunity to succeed. Put a mental health self-care plan together that involves several achievable steps, and you\u2019ll find that your mindset will improve as you progress. You can\u2019t solve everything at once, but as you accomplish things, the next small goal becomes that much more achievable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5.      The Priority of Your Mental Health Self-Care Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    More often than not, people cannot really see how you\u2019re doing with your mental health very easily. It\u2019s an internal struggle, and it\u2019s always going to be that way in a certain respect. However, you need to put as much priority on your mental health self-care plan as you do your physical health. After all, it\u2019s all but universally believed that mental and physical health are interconnected<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Therefore, there\u2019s no reason to give you mental health less attention or priority than your overall physical health. As you\u2019ll see in future articles, one definitely helps the other, and vice versa. Don\u2019t allow yourself to procrastinate or just not focus on your mental health because you\u2019re busy or you\u2019d rather do something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How SoCal Empowered Can Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A mental health self-care plan can make an enormous difference in anyone\u2019s life. It should be seen in the same light as a healthy diet, exercise routine or sleep pattern. If you\u2019re really struggling, or you\u2019re concerned about a loved one who is, then it may be better to contact us<\/a> as soon as you can to discuss the situation. We\u2019re here to help those who need it the most, so don\u2019t hesitate to reach out if you don\u2019t think a long-term approach is going to make the necessary difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019re ready to listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you consider yourself a generally health-minded person, then there are certain things you would just not do to yourself. Would you start smoking? Eat nothing but junk food? Drink alcohol daily? Deprive yourself of sleep? Of course not \u2013 health-minded people take care of themselves. That said, can you honestly say that you put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15],"tags":[29,220,219],"yoast_head":"\nMental Health Self-Care: 5 Foundational Steps | SoCal Empowered<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mental health self-care is critical for your quality of life. SoCal Empowered begins a series of informational articles on how to get started.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Foundational Steps | SoCal Empowered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mental health self-care is critical for your quality of life. SoCal Empowered begins a series of informational articles on how to get started.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Socal Empowered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socalempowered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-04T21:10:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-04T21:11:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Nault\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EmpoweredSocal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EmpoweredSocal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jay Nault\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jay Nault\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74f8abdf8a6d05cbd77cd944fc3a4ba4\"},\"headline\":\"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Steps To Get Started\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-04T21:10:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-04T21:11:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\"},\"wordCount\":1211,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Mental health\",\"mental health self-care\",\"self-care\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Mental Health\",\"Work Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\",\"name\":\"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Foundational Steps | SoCal Empowered\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-04T21:10:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-04T21:11:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mental health self-care is critical for your quality of life. SoCal Empowered begins a series of informational articles on how to get started.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Mental health self-care starts with a foundational plan.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Steps To Get Started\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/\",\"name\":\"Socal Empowered\",\"description\":\"Southern California Mental Health Treatment\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SoCal Empowered\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socal-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socal-logo.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":65,\"caption\":\"SoCal Empowered\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socalempowered\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/EmpoweredSocal\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/socal-empowered\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socalempowered\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74f8abdf8a6d05cbd77cd944fc3a4ba4\",\"name\":\"Jay Nault\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae84bfc831e729f04b804383633f6590?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae84bfc831e729f04b804383633f6590?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jay Nault\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Foundational Steps | SoCal Empowered","description":"Mental health self-care is critical for your quality of life. SoCal Empowered begins a series of informational articles on how to get started.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Foundational Steps | SoCal Empowered","og_description":"Mental health self-care is critical for your quality of life. SoCal Empowered begins a series of informational articles on how to get started.","og_url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/","og_site_name":"Socal Empowered","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socalempowered","article_published_time":"2024-03-04T21:10:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-04T21:11:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jay Nault","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EmpoweredSocal","twitter_site":"@EmpoweredSocal","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jay Nault","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/"},"author":{"name":"Jay Nault","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74f8abdf8a6d05cbd77cd944fc3a4ba4"},"headline":"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Steps To Get Started","datePublished":"2024-03-04T21:10:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-04T21:11:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/"},"wordCount":1211,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg","keywords":["Mental health","mental health self-care","self-care"],"articleSection":["Mental Health","Work Life"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/","url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/","name":"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Foundational Steps | SoCal Empowered","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-04T21:10:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-04T21:11:01+00:00","description":"Mental health self-care is critical for your quality of life. SoCal Empowered begins a series of informational articles on how to get started.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mental-Health-Self-Care.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Mental health self-care starts with a foundational plan."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/mental-health-self-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mental Health Self-Care: 5 Steps To Get Started"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/","name":"Socal Empowered","description":"Southern California Mental Health Treatment","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#organization","name":"SoCal Empowered","url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socal-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/socal-logo.png","width":250,"height":65,"caption":"SoCal Empowered"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socalempowered","https:\/\/x.com\/EmpoweredSocal","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/socal-empowered\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socalempowered\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74f8abdf8a6d05cbd77cd944fc3a4ba4","name":"Jay Nault","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae84bfc831e729f04b804383633f6590?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae84bfc831e729f04b804383633f6590?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jay Nault"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246932"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246935,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246932\/revisions\/246935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalempowered.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}