WACO, Texas — Stress, anxiety, and depression are just a few of the many hurdles people had to overcome during the pandemic.
“A lot of things weren’t able to be in-person so finding that community was a little bit hard and that was tough mentally,” Grace Drobek, a Baylor student said.
Grace and Lindsay Matthews, both Baylor students, are just a few of many who have felt isolated over the past few months but, both have used some form of self-care to help.
“Every morning I run to relieve stress and I think that any form of exercise whether it is walking, running, biking, is definitely a good way to do that,” Drobek said.
“Going on walks, just being outside and with friends,” Lindsay Matthews said.
According to Vince Erickson with Texans Recovering Together, there is a stigma around self-care that health experts are working to break.
"It's not selfish care, it's checking in with yourself,” Erickson said.
According to Erickson, self-care can be a physical act, like exercise or practicing breathing exercises, or it can be mental, such as meditation.
“Self-care is the care that you have with yourself and you almost have to put yourself first so that you can take care of other people,” Erickson said.
Another form of self-care is reaching for help when you need it.
Texans recovering together saw a 3% increase in the past month when it comes to people reaching out for help with their mental health.
“A gentleman I spoke to who called just a week and a half ago, he just needed someone to talk to, someone to listen, and basically said, ‘I don’t know if I can go on with all of this anxiety,'” Erickson explained.
And with negative mental health due to the pandemic, health professionals encourage everyone to take some time this month to simply reflect and check-in with themselves.
