Self Care & Emotional Support Strategies

It is not just important to look after yourself... it is necessary.

We cannot pour from an empty cup and we cannot give love, compassion and kindness to others at the cost of ourselves.

Self-care is all about beginning to create helpful daily habits that nurture, value and prioritise yourself. And doing so without guilt. As you begin to implement more self-care and make it part of your everyday life,  you will greatly reduce the risk of serious mental illness, or build in more resilience to manage it better.

The following are strategies you can put in place to create some healthy self-care foundations; these tips will help you improve and maintain your mental health and wellbeing daily and in an accumulated way over time.

DAILY / REGULAR SELF CARE NEEDS

• Practice Self-care - Look after yourself physically and emotionally each day.
• Be compassionate – the key to self care is self-compassion and releasing self judgement and criticism. This is where you will get most benefit in beginning to care for you.
• Create some personal boundaries – knowing when to say no to others and put yourself first is a key element to regaining emotional balance.
• Have a social life – connection with other humans outside of your job is critical to maintaining a healthy work life balance and moderating stress levels.
• Get some cuddles – connecting with your pets is a great way to de-stress, fill your tank and feel happier.
• Exercise or walk regularly – exercise releases endorphins which help us to feel good, and sleep better.
• Manage your stress – have a healthy outlet which relives your stress; this can be via friends, pets, regular exercise, gardening …
• Practice gratitude - take a moment to reflect on what a good job you are doing, focus on the positive aspects of your role as a nurse and your life outside.
• Develop resilience – emotional resilience will develop largely as a bi-product of doing all of the above on a regular basis. This means you can ride the wave of life's stressors, ups and downs with minimal impact upon you.
• Get help – see a counsellor, therapist or someone who can help you find balance in your emotional world. Click here for more information.

Emotions are normal healthy responses to situations so don’t let being emotional scare you - we are emotional creatures!

However during stressful or extreme periods in our life we can go suddenly find ourselves going through very intense emotional responses many times in one day. Creating positive habits of self-care and ways to manage your stress will help you develop resilience and balance emotions in a healthy way.

Things that can help include:

• Take up relaxation exercises such as meditation, yoga, breathing.
• Employ distraction methods, by taking some time out to engage in an activity which you find relaxing or that takes your mind off things such as walking, listening to music or podcasts.
• Remember the good times and try to focus on these rather than the negative feelings you are having today.
• Eat well and stay hydrated
• Get enough sleep
• Exercise moderately at least 3 times a week

A big part of self-care is creating a mindset that instead of being critical, is compassionate, forgiving and kind.

When we are hard on ourselves we create more stress  in our bodies and our lives. But when we are compassionate, accommodating and forgiving of ourselves things tend to go much easier.

Would you keep a friend around who was critical of you many times in one day?

A mental health day is beneficial to yourself and to your workplace. Do not feel ashamed to speak out about your emotional needs or to take a day for self-compassion to refuel your tank.

Creating a study-life balance is an important step to feeling good. Remember, you are not alone, so reach out and talk to your fellow students for support and motivation. You will find others have felt this way too.

Learn more using our Self Care Tools.

Keeping ourselves motivated can be tough and we all lose this from time to time, especially if we are feeling negative or disheartened.

Focus on what your end goal is and what you will be able to achieve once you have finished your course.  Imagine yourself in your future role working with animals and providing this care you have worked so hard to achieve. Set yourself small goals that you can achieve, and make sure you take breaks and reward yourself.

Learn more using our Mindset & Motivation Tools.