Self care and self help 

What can prevent good self-care……?

• Stressful events or life events such as a change in job or a bereavement. Also changes such as deployment can impact on your ability to look after yourself.
• Certain types of culture or background. The armed forces community may make you think that self-care is self-indulgent especially if a family member is struggling themselves.
• Chronic conditions or severe mental illness can impact on our self-care, in these instances it’s about finding something that can help but not make you feel worse. The idea of self-care is something that makes you feel better about yourself.
• Influence of others – significant people around you may make you think that self-care is not important or a valuable tool in your overall health. Again this may be from certain people around you.

But what can we gain from self-care?

Looking after yourself is vital for your physical and mental health

Self-care can improve your physical health;

• Self-care will make you feel better, and the better you feel, the better you will be in all areas of your life
• You will become more attune to your body and know more easily what it needs

Self-care can improve your mental health and self-esteem;

• Any activity that makes you feel more relaxed can improve your mood and reduce anxiety
• Treating yourself with kindness makes you look upon yourself more kindly
• Self-care can help you manage ongoing issues and maybe stop them from getting worse
• A study has shown that people with higher self-esteem deal with setbacks better and are more likely to achieve their goals

           _{(Self-Compassion Increases Self-Improvement Motivation Juliana G. Breines, Serena Chen, 2012)}

Self-care can improve relationships;

• You may have an increased connection with your partner and a greater understanding of what the relationship may need. This is especially true if partners are making transitions between coming home and leaving on deployment
• You will have a greater relationship with yourself which is so important
• Doing self-care with your partner could have other benefits aside from you just feeling better e.g. greater intimacy
• Anything that has a positive impact on your life will improve the lives of others around you.

 Resources

• BMI Healthcare (https://www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/health-matters/health-and-wellbeing/what-is-self-care-and-why-is-it-important#gdpr-out)
• The Couples Center (https://www.thecouplescenter.org/why-self-care-is-so-important-for-longevity-and-wellness/)
• Bustle (https://www.bustle.com/p/how-self-care-can-make-your-relationship-stronger-according-to-experts-19297482)

 Keeping Families in Mind has created a series of Self Help videos on a range of subjects, click here to see more