Great Mental Self-care Ideas You Should Try After Recovering from a Long Illness

Recovering from an extended illness is like emerging from a dry, endless desert that sucked you dry until you lost touch with some parts of your own body, mind, and soul. At that time more than ever, you need to invest in mental self-care.

From the moment diagnosis results were confirmed, you probably went into autopilot with all focus on staying ahead of the illness and simply staying alive. It felt like an endless whirlwind from medicine, to injections, bandages, and maybe physiotherapy day in and day out, then the next day having to rinse and repeat the same routine.

So, while you’re down with a long illness, you may not even notice the other parts of your life that are being neglected.

• You may be less involved with your loved ones socially due to poor energy levels.
• Chores tend to build up leading to disorganization and messiness at home.
• Quite often, your job or studies take a back seat as all your attention is diverted to your health.
• Physical fitness usually goes down the drain as you don’t usually get off the couch; further, it affects mental well-being.
• You might find it hard to maintain basic self-care routines such as eating balanced meals or staying hydrated.

The road to recovery requires some deliberate forethought regarding self-care practices like regular exercise, proper nutrition, and good sleep habits. Slow, careful, implementation will help rebuild your strength and morale.

Setting realistic goals is an important part of regaining your energetic, healthy self. These can be the smallest daily activities that are enjoyable or motivating like fresh air or good rest, which both contribute significantly to recovery.

Self-Care Ideas to Find Yourself Again After Recovery

Monitoring progress is important so get yourself a journal to jot down anything achieved daily. This will not only keep you motivated but may also highlight the strengths and skills that you applied to overcome an obstacle. Write down how you feel on paper by journaling or poetry, since this is sometimes quite hard to say out loud.

Try painting or drawing as an outlet for visual expression. Even dancing has proven to be a perfect physical outlet for releasing pent-up energy and tension. Further self-discovery might be achieved by investigating one or more of these creative pursuits.

Spending time outdoors doing activities like dog walking or gardening is not only good exercise but may also positively affect mental well-being. Regular walks in local parks, the observation of birds, or taking in the sounds of running streams, and other soothing nature sounds, may reverberate in your soul.

Join a group of your favorite hobbies: reading, hiking, painting, or try something new and start cooking or music classes.

You can also do volunteer work to give back to the community in gratitude for those who helped with your healing. This can help with bonding and decrease loneliness. You can help in community gardens or at hospitals where connectivity comes up naturally through the work of serving others.

Prioritize sleep by sticking to your sleeping schedule and never hesitate to say “no” if you feel too overwhelmed. Again, gratitude works wonders, so remind yourself of things you appreciate every day by taking small, yet effective, steps to help you regain lost strength and positivity during recovery.

Surround yourself with supportive people. Social support is vital for wellness, especially coming back to normal life after a long-term illness.

You cannot go through recovery all alone but talking to people who understand what you are going through can help you find acceptance and self-confidence. Sharing your mind with a trusted person brings relief as you process your feelings, whether complicated or trivial. There will be a reduction of feelings of isolation as you build these relationships.

Many professional therapists give realistic advice on how to deal with everyday stressors while working to overcome the stigma associated with recovering from a long-term illness. Call us to make an appointment with one of the qualified therapists here just waiting to walk this walk with you.