7 Ways To Practice Radical Self-Care When Your Mental Health Is At Stake

The recent World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labor Organization Joint Policy Brief, Mental health guidelines were outlined as estimates for the working population. 12 billion workdays are lost annually due to depression and anxiety, costing the global economy about $1 trillion (US).. Yet many business leaders continue to practice old hat tricks from the dark ages. They believe that self-sacrifice, iron-fisted leadership and criticism build an organization’s and company’s bottom line. And they believe that when companies require their employees to work longer and harder, they get a greater return on their spending.

What is radical self-care?

When faced with this kind of extreme work challenge, employees may need to go to extremes and take drastic steps to protect their mental health in order to get people’s attention. Radical self-care involves setting boundaries, not just saying no. It involves defying public opinion and refusing to soothe when others call you selfish or weak.

At the 2021 French Open, for example, Naomi Osaka struggled with anxiety and depression. Grand Slam tournament head Honcho demanded that she face the media or be disqualified. The tennis champion, who refused to comply and further hurt herself, acted courageously. I stepped in amidst scathing public criticism of being pulled away from a job I loved deeply. I have shown that it continues to be a popular topic.

When celebrities shine in the spotlight, we often perceive them as superhuman beings, freed from the toils of daily hard workers. But mental health issues are universal. Fame and fortune do not protect us from these challenges. Talking about whether you’re a judge or a janitor is a strength, not a weakness. We all have a responsibility to protect our mental health from exploitative work cultures. Osaka’s treatment affects all working conditions for employees everywhere facing punitive demands regardless of human well-being.

Radical self-care is about caring about how you treat yourself, or allow yourself to be treated, as much as you do about the expectations of others, and daring in unpopular and extreme ways when necessary. Be willing to take action. At all costs for mental and physical well-being. Fundamental self-care includes the following key elements:

• Prioritizing one’s own well-being over the well-being of others — analogy to oxygen masks deployed on airplanes —
• Extreme boundary management and work-life balance
• Fundamental choice of friends and support network (energy creators vs energy suckers)
• A keen awareness of emotions and triggers, and the ability to bud strong reactions and escalations
• Prioritize positive mental and physical health (mindfulness, exercise, rest, hobbies, diet)
• stubborn ability to let go of fear of disappointing others
• intention to go against public opinion
• A radical ability to refuse even when it is not easy or inconvenient for the person you care about
• Mindful Awareness Choosing Your Heart Over Your Head When Your Heart Says Yes And Your Heart Says No
• Self-acceptance that it is impossible to give 100% to everything

7 Ways to Practice Radical Self-Care

As the mass resignations begin after the pandemic, American workers no longer turn off office lights or huddle behind potted plants to protect themselves from toxic workplace demands that damage mental health. And I’m no longer willing to pay for burnout as a “normal” side effect of hard work. Work shouldn’t burn you out or make you sick. Here are his seven wellness strategies for prioritizing mental health at work.

1. Make mental health a top priority and take steps to protect it every day, even if your company doesn’t. Throw it out the window, pleaser. What Osaka did was neither selfish nor narcissistic. It was radical self-care. She is the only person on earth who knows what actions to take to protect and maintain her own emotional well-being.
2. Take control of your career. Speak up if you feel you’re being treated unfairly at work and don’t make career decisions that hurt your mental health. Advocate for your health, regardless of pressure from your employer, and don’t back down when your mental health is at stake.
3. Set healthy boundaries. Follow Naomi Osaka’s example and be happy to say no when companies make unreasonable demands that are against your mental health. Saying nothing more than you say yes is characteristic of healthy and successful people.
4. Avoid self-loathing. You are neither weak nor selfish when you refuse to expose yourself to unhealthy workplace demands. Some employees are born with the determination of a pitbull, while others are more vulnerable to the stones and arrows of workplace pressure.
5. Maintain a close and strong support system. Gather family, friends, and colleagues to lean on in times of turmoil. Serena Williams and Michael Phelps came to Osaka’s defense and supported her decision to look after herself.
6. Show a professional attitude. Tennis champion Naomi Osaka has released a statement expressing hope that both parties can find a solution to this controversial ordeal in the future.
7. Consider quitting your job. I can’t tell you to quit your job without knowing the details of your work and personal life. Weighing the pros and cons of quitting a job that doesn’t give you meaning or purpose, that is toxic, or that requires you to sacrifice your mental health and well-being is a great way to weigh the pros and cons of talking to a human resources professional or counselor. It may be worth it.