Caring for You this World Mental Health Day

Caring for your mental health, especially for the socialgov community in 2020, hasn’t been easy. 

Govies across the country have been working nonstop, with no clear end in sight, communicating on the frontlines of the COVID crisis. You’ve responded to social justice issues & conversations over social, while handling your own grief & frustration. You got vital info on natural disasters to your communities, while facing fear & anxiety about you & your loved ones’ well-being. The election. Mask orders. Shortages. The list goes on.

You’ve handled all of this, but have you handled your own mental health and self-care?

There’s no better time to evaluate how you’re doing than World Mental Health Day, happening Saturday, Oct. 10. The theme of this year’s campaign is increased investment in mental health - and we’re here to make sure you also invest in you. Use these practices & resources to take care of your mental health & social self-care.

Meet Your Basic Needs

When you’re in crisis mode, it’s easy to get so wrapped up and focused on your work and what you need to do that your own self-care gets pushed aside. However, GSM council rep and social self-care advocate Jessie Brown says that by doing these four things, you can keep your self-care at the forefront.

• Get enough sleep
• Eat nutritiously 
• Drink enough water (and then drink some more!)
• Get moving

Watch Jessie’s full breakdown on meeting your basic needs to help keep your energy up & put yourself in the best position to better deal with stress, anxiety and depression.

What are some other ways to take care of your mental health at work? Jessie also has these tips that focus on tangible ways you can incorporate self-care into your daily schedule:

• Investigate productivity and efficiency methods like timeboxing, routines and single-tasking to help you stay focused and accomplish more in order to fight that sense of overwhelm and also preserve your well-deserved and necessary downtime. 
• Be firm in your home life/work life boundaries to preserve your down time away from work, and take a vacation day (or 10).
• Find ways to reset when the day or the comment section gets emotionally overwhelming - take a brief walk, do a breathing exercise, watch something funny.

Resources at Your Fingertips

There are so many useful resources for you to use, and they’re right at your fingertips! Best yet, you can cater the resources you want to use to exactly what you might need.

Start by browsing through these mental health apps available for Apple users or on the Google Play store and pick some out for you! If you want a self-care companion, somewhere to journal, motivational quotes or some base therapy, you can find many daily self-care options & reminders to keep your mental health on track.

Facebook also just launched its new Emotional Health resource center, just in time for World Mental Health Day, filled with tips & info from leading experts. You can now more easily connect with expert support including a WHO Health Alert chatbot or Crisis Support Over Messenger. You’ll also find new mental well-being guides on Instagram and can tune into an original series called “Peace of Mind with Taraji” on Facebook Watch.

Community Connections

Seek support from those who know your goals, successes & challenges the most - your peers. This powerful group of government social media professionals across the country knows exactly what you face each day, and you don’t need to face it alone.

• Join the Government Social Media Community Facebook Group, open to all government professionals handling social media.
• Be a part of our free GSM network - a private platform with candid conversations, helpful resources & content - to help you best succeed. Only full/part-time government and educational institution employees can join.
• Pro tip: Join our professional association today to get connected with a tight knit group of government social media professionals & even more helpful content including focused webinars on mental health, FIrst Amendment rights and more.

Talk to a Professional

While we have all these useful resources & tips for you, we’re not mental health specialists. Please seek a professional to chat with if you want further resources for your mental health. A good place to start a professional might be with your agency. Check to see if they have any mental health resources available, such as access to an employee assistance program (EAP) to speak with a licensed therapist at no cost to you.

If you need immediate assistance, here’s how to get help right now