ELE FINALS
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CHAPTER 8: MAINTAINING AND
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
Self-care
- “the ability of individuals, families, and
communities to promote health, prevent
disease, maintain health, and to cope with
illness and disability with or without the
support of a healthcare provider.” - World
Health Organization
- “Self-care is anything that you do for
yourself that feels nourishing, that can be
something that’s relaxing or calming, or it
can be something that is intellectual or
spiritual or physical or practical or
something you need to get done” - Marni
Amsellem, PhD, a licensed psychologist
based in Trumbull, Connecticut.
- Self-Care includes health literacy as a pillar
of self-care, meaning that any steps you
take toward better understanding health
information you need to make appropriate
decisions about your health and well-being
counts as self-care, too. - International
Self-Care Foundation
- Self-care describes a conscious act one
takes in order to promote their own
physical, mental, and emotional health.
Benefits of Self-care
- Self-care can improve your physical
health
- A big part of self-care is committing to
looking after your body and becoming more
attuned with its needs.
- Whether it’s brushing your teeth, exercising
more or getting enough sleep each night,
part of any programme of self-care should
focus on looking after your physical health.
-
Self-care can reduce stress and anxiety
Making time for relaxing activities, such as
taking a warm bath, listening to music or
practicing yoga or meditation, is another
common theme of self-care.
- Any activity that makes you feel more
relaxed can help to reduce symptoms of
stress and anxiety and to lift your mood.
- Self-care can boost your self-esteem
- As well as helping to calm your nerves,
taking time to relax and look after yourself
can have a positive impact on the way you
see yourself: treating yourself with kindness
can make you look upon yourself more
kindly.
- Studies have found that people with higher
self-esteem find it easier to deal with
setbacks and are more likely to achieve
goals of self-improvement.
- Self-care protects your mental health
- Self-care can help to manage mental health
issues and might even prevent them from
getting worse.
- Self-care is not a substitute for professional
help, and you shouldn’t feel you have to
tackle your problems alone.
- If your mental health is suffering, you should
always talk to someone.
- However, if you’re looking to improve your
mental wellbeing, taking the time to care for
yourself both mentally and physically is
really important.
- Self-care can lead to better relationships
- The happier and healthier you are, the more
you can give to a relationship.
- This is especially important if you are a
parent or carer. It can be so easy to put
someone else’s needs first, but you must
look after your own health too.
 Lack of self-care - What are the costs?
- We run a risk of depletion,losing perspective
and burn out if we do not focus on activities
that truly renew us.
- Burnout - what happens when you try to
avoid being human for too long
Burnout leads to...
- Inflexible, cynical, negative, and rigid
personality
- Depressive symptoms
- Turnover rates in work will increase in the
workplace
- Negative student academic outcomes,
negative student- teacher relationships, and
lower quality classroom climates in the
academe.
Self-Love Language
Resiliency
- Lessons we learn from Bamboo
- To bend but not break
- To bounce back
- To grow amidst adversities
- The word “resilience”, from the Latin verb
resilire (re-salire: to jump back), means
literally the tendency or ability to spring
back, and thus the ability of a body to
recover its normal size and shape after
being pushed or pulled out of shape, and
therefore figuratively any ability to recover to
normality after a disturbance (K. Wolter et al.
2012)
- Resiliency is the process of adapting well in
the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy,
threats, or significant sources of stress—
such as family and relationship problems,
serious health problems, or workplace and
financial stressors. - American
Psychological Association, 2014
- Resiliency is not …
- Being resilient doesn’t mean that a person
won’t experience difficulty or distress.
- People who have suffered major adversity or
trauma in their lives commonly experience
emotional pain and stress.
- In fact, the road to resilience is likely to
involve considerable emotional distress.
- How to Develop Resiliency?
- Build your connections
- Foster wellness
- Find purpose
- Embrace healthy thoughts
- Seeking Help
- Develop Resiliency – Build Your
Connections
- Prioritize relationships
- Connecting with empathetic and
understanding people can remind you that
you’re not alone in the midst of difficulties.
- Focus on finding trustworthy and
compassionate individuals who validate
your feelings, which will support the skill of
resilience.
- Join a group
- Along with one-on-one relationships, some
people find that being active in civic groups,
faith-based communities, or other local
organizations provides social support and
can help you reclaim hope.
- Develop Resiliency – Foster Wellness
- Take care of your body
- Promoting positive lifestyle factors like
proper nutrition, ample sleep, hydration, and
regular exercise can strengthen your body
 to adapt to stress and reduce the toll of
emotions like anxiety or depression.
- Practice mindfulness
- Mindful journaling, yoga, and other spiritual
practices like prayer or meditation can also
help people build connections and restore
hope, which can prime them to deal with
situations that require resilience.
- Avoid negative outlets
- It may be tempting to mask your pain with
alcohol, drugs, or other substances, but
that’s like putting a bandage on a deep
wound.
- Focus instead on giving your body
resources to manage stress, rather than
seeking to eliminate the feeling of stress
altogether.
- Develop Resiliency – Find Purpose
- Help others
- Whether you volunteer with a local
homeless shelter or simply support a friend
in their own time of need, you can garner a
sense of purpose, foster self-worth, connect
with other people, and tangibly help others,
all of which can empower you to grow in
resilience.
- Be proactive.
- It’s helpful to acknowledge and accept your
emotions during hard times, but it’s also
important to help you foster self-discovery
by asking yourself, “What can I do about a
problem in my life?”
- If the problems seem too big to tackle,
break them down into manageable pieces.
- Move toward your goals.
- Develop some realistic goals and do
something regularly—even if it seems like a
small accomplishment—that enables you to
move toward the things you want to
accomplish.
- Instead of focusing on tasks that seem
unachievable, ask yourself, “What’s one
thing I know I can accomplish today that
helps me move in the direction I want to
go?”
- Look for opportunities for self-discovery
- People often find that they have grown in
some respect as a result of a struggle.
- For example, after a tragedy or hardship,
people have reported better relationships
and a greater sense of strength, even while
feeling vulnerable.
- That can increase their sense of self-worth
and heighten their appreciation for life.
- Develop Resiliency – Embrace Healthy
Thoughts
- Keep things in perspective
- How you think can play a significant part in
how you feel—and how resilient you are
when faced with obstacles.
- Try to identify areas of irrational thinking and
adopt a more balanced and realistic thinking
pattern.
- You may not be able to change a highly
stressful event, but you can change how
you interpret and respond to it.
- Maintain a hopeful outlook
- It’s hard to be positive when life isn’t going
your way.
- An optimistic outlook empowers you to
expect that good things will happen to you.
- Try visualizing what you want, rather than
worrying about what you fear.
- Along the way, note any subtle ways in
which you start to feel better as you deal
with difficult situations.
- Learn from your past
- By looking back at who or what was helpful
in previous times of distress, you may
discover how you can respond effectively to
new difficult situations.
- Remind yourself of where you’ve been able
to find strength and ask yourself what
you’ve learned from those experiences.
- Develop Resiliency – Seeking Help
- Getting help when you need it is crucial in
building your resilience.
- It is important to get professional help if you
feel like you are unable to function as well
as you would like or perform basic activities
of daily living as a result of a traumatic or
other stressful life experience.
- A licensed mental health professional such
as a psychologist can assist people in
developing an appropriate strategy for
moving forward.
“I never lose. I either win or learn.”
- Nelson Mandela