The Self-Care Acronym That Will Rock Your World

Self-care is a term that’s been thrown around a lot in the mental health world. When I heard the words “self-care,” I nodded,  I agreed that it was important, and I went on my way.

Until I couldn’t put off figuring out the meaning of those words anymore. Having kids who required me to be present really made me stop and figure out what it really means to actually take care of myself. Once a figured out what I needed, however, I would forget, so I made up a self-care acronym to help.

Self-Care is Individual

The great thing about learning how to take care of yourself is that you can tailor your self-care plan to fit your needs. I like getting pedicures and massages on a regular basis, but this may not be your thing. You may like to take a run when you’re feeling overwhelmed and I’m like, thank you, no, I’ll walk. My personal self-care acronym may not work for you, but it’s a starting point to figure out exactly what you want to do for self-care.

The point is figuring out what really helps you to feel better, to hang in there, to have hope. I watch The Office. I avoid eating or drinking dairy products. I make a blanket and pillow fort in my bed and play Candy Crush. Every time I have taken a time out and used my self-care acronym, I’ve emerged feeling better than before.

[Tweet “Self-care is figuring out what really helps you to feel better, to hang in there, to have hope. “]

Self-Care is All About Making a Plan

For me, my post traumatic stress disorder (combined with depression and anxiety) can flair up at any time. I might wake up feeling fine and then the day will crash around me in a fiery mess. Or I might begin the day fresh from a nightmare and it all gets worse from there. Or nothing will happen and the day will be what some people call “normal.”

Different levels of self-care are required for different days. If I’m sobbing at my computer by ten o’clock in the morning due to an unexpected trigger, then more intentional self-care is required that day.

I don’t wait until I’m sobbing or in the fiery mess to try and figure out what “self-care” looks like for me. At that point, I simply do not care. Instead, I have made a simple four-step self-care plan that helps me at anytime, especially when everything goes to crap.

[Tweet “I have made a simple four-step #self-care plan that helps me at anytime. #ptsd”]

The Four-Step Self-Care Acronym

I came up with this acronym through learning how to manage my triggers. Actually, I came up with it because I could not even with this parenting stuff and one day asked myself, “What is the bare minimum that I need to do today in order to take care of myself?”

This is what I came up with. And after ten-plus years as an educator in the public school system, I am fairly addicted to creating acronyms. Seriously, there is an acronym for everything when you are a teacher.

So what is the magical acronym that will literally rock your world? It is SEEM. It helps me deal with those times when it “SEEM”s like it’s going to be a challenging day. Because post traumatic stress disorder does not care if you are ready to deal, it just happens.

And when it does happen, you can be ready to act. What are the four self-care steps you need to do today? Sleep, Eat, Exercise, and take your Meds.

Don’t panic about the Exercise part, though. For me, this means moving my body in literally any fashion. It could be going grocery shopping or doing one push up. I make the simplest fitness goal that I can for that day, and I always succeed. And guess what? Once I start moving, I usually keep going…and then I feel better.

How do you take care of yourself, especially during challenging mental health days? Leave a comment and let us know!

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