Signs You Need a Mental Break
When most people think of health they think of the
physical stuff. The weight loss, the muscle gain, the
eating habits. However, in reality the most important
aspect of our health is something that has developed
quite a stigma around it and is therefore something that
is very uncomfortable for many people to talk about: mental
health. Mental health is something EVERYONE deals with
and needs to keep up on every single day, which for many
is a hard thing to do. Even though your pride for proving you
can handle it all makes you feel like a superhero, if you don’t
take the time to keep up with your mental health you will
eventually hit a wall where too much is really too much. Here
are signs that I watch for when this happens and if you are
experiencing any of these it might mean it is time for you
to take a mental break as well.
6 signs you need a mental break:
You are constantly feeling sick
I will go through periods where my anxiety is so high
that I cannot eat anything, or even think about food, without
feeling nauseous and getting physically sick. Nothing
about my diet has changed, I still eat all the same foods, but
my anxiety just keeps my body from eating. There have
been times where I have gone days without being able
to eat anything and have lost about 10-15 pounds. While highly effective
this is definitely not a diet plan I recommend.
2. You are exhausted but can’t sleep
I NEVER used to have any problem with sleeping.
I could sleep in till 11am, take a couple hour nap
around 3-4pm, and then still be ready to go back to
bed for 8+ hours around 10pm. Now, there are times
when, no matter how tired I am, I simply cannot
fall asleep or if I do my sleep is so broken that it
seems like I would have been better off staying awake all night.
3. You don’t have the motivation to do anything, even things you enjoy
There are some days where all I feel like doing is laying
on my living room floor and staring at the ceiling. I don’t want
to listen to music (I am usually a sucker for a good dance party), I
don’t watch any movies or YouTube (I typically can spend hours
watching YouTube), I don’t read (I converted a bedroom in my
house into a library so I am definitely a serious reader) all of
which are things that I immensely enjoy on any other day.
However, when my anxiety hits an all time high doing any of
these things just takes too much effort and don't sound fun anymore.
4. You are emotional
Generally speaking I would say that I am a fairly
happy, optimistic person. However, if I am stressed
about something I tend to have these drastic emotional
swings that can switch on a dime. I can go from being
happy to angry to uncontrollably sobbing to having a
full on anxiety attack all in a matter of minutes, especially
if I am confronted by one of my triggers. Definitely
not days you want to be around me.
5. You can’t even think straight
I am not saying that I am a person who doesn’t get easily
distracted, because whoa. Was that a huge clap of thunder
or something else? You know if it is going to rain I really
should cover my patio chairs and then go inside. Oh but it is
still so nice out and oh my gosh! This robin totally just flew
right up to me and is just chilling. I am like freaking
Cinderella...all the animals love me. And….wait. What
was I saying again? Oh yeah….I definitely have moments
where I can get easily distracted. Lol However, there are
some days where my mind just feels like a heavy, foggy, and
jumbled mess. Focusing on any type of task is near impossible
and takes 10x longer and forget even trying to hold a conversation
with me. Anything someone says won’t even compute in my
brain until minutes later and therefore all you will get back in return
are meaningless head nods and sentences made from half formed
thoughts or ideas. It is extremely frustrating, which in turn makes
things even worse, and all I want to do on these days
is lay in bed and sleep.
6. You are thinking waaaay too much
One lovely trait I have developed over the past
couple of years is overthinking, which in reality, is
probably a characteristic that could be said to describe
most girls. (Well, at least that is what some guy once
told me. *cue eye roll*) However, whenever my anxiety
reaches an all time high and my mental health is teetering
on the edge I take overthinking to a whole new level. My brain
will get stuck on this one small thought and then continue to focus
on it and nothing else until I find myself stuck in this
“thought spiral” where I feel this overwhelming need to
either take immediate action to make the thought go away or
sit and continue on the downward spiral as it tightens and I feel
like I am being suffocated by that thought. (If you want to learn
more about what these thought spirals are like, or are someone
who also suffers from these and wants to feel understood then
you need to read the book Turtles All the Way Down by John
Green. No book has done a better job describing what these
thought spirals are like and it was something I could so easily relate to.)
If you are experiencing any of these signs then please
do not ignore them! They will only get worse if you do.
Sometimes you just need to put yourself first! I promise no
one will be disappointed in you or let down if
you do. It is okay to take a break.
Check out my post on how to take this mental break here!