Self-Care Habits of Youth During Quarantine
By: Fcss-Fesc Team
Tags: Self Care Habits, Quarantine, Youth Mental Health, Youth, Self Care

By: Vivian Zhi

Please note that this blog post represents the opinions of Vivian Zhi and is not representative of the official stance of the FCSS-FESC.

During this pandemic, mental health professionals have been emphasizing the importance of self-care, as going through a pandemic increases psychological distress and anxiety among the population. Multiple articles and infographics on self-care tips have been produced as a response and circulated on our social media feed. As a student, I have read these articles and wondered if my peers were following these tips. How was their mental health? Were their self-care habits getting better, worse, or staying the same? What were they doing specifically to practise self-care?

With these questions in mind, I sent out a survey to youth (ages 14–24) across North America and received forty responses. Please note that the results are not reflective of all students.

While eleven students said that they have been practising self-care before the pandemic hit, the twenty-two students have said that they have been practising just a bit. Six people said that they haven’t, and one student clarified that although they have not practised self-care with the intention of doing so, they sometimes take time out of their day to do activities they enjoy.

When quarantine started, more than half of the people surveyed started practising more self-care while sixteen people said they practised about the same amount of self-care as before. Three students stated that they weren’t practising it before and haven’t been practising it since. From the results, it seems that more people are heeding the advice of mental health professionals and taking care of themselves more.

When asked what people do specifically to practise self-care, I received a variety of responses. Ranging from journaling to watching television, the results show that there are many different ways to take care of yourself. Here are a few responses from the people surveyed:

“Taking breaks, trying to find hobbies which bring me a sense of fulfillment.” — Anonymous “I usually take walks, do prayers, sleep-in, take a long bath.” — Martin “My friends and I have this “motivation corner” on Discord which is basically a daily check up to see if we’ve eaten three meals in a day, done exercise, etc. It’s pretty helpful since before, I’d often have no motivation to do some of these things that I’m now reminded to do.” — Anonymous “I make sure to exercise at least once a day, make sure to spend time with my family, and listen to relaxing music to calm myself down if I feel stressed or bothered with something.” — Anika “I occasionally usually use free time to do activities I enjoy, such as reading. It is more rare for me to take time out of doing other activities (especially obligatory ones) for the purpose of practicing self-care.” — Anonymous “When I feel my mind starting to get to a negative place, I verbally call out the BS and say to myself, “that is not reality because” and proceed to focus on what I’m doing right/positives v.s. what I think I’m doing wrong/negatives. My therapist also recommended I write down 3 things I like about myself daily so I never fall short of positives. I also do a lot of journaling — it’s a safe space for me to word vomit the millions of thoughts I’ve got in my head.” — Merk

When asked whether they felt like their overall mental health has been better, about the same, or worse during the pandemic, ten people said it was better, fifteen people said it was about the same, and fourteen people said it was worse. One person pointed out that they felt like the state of their mental health before and during the pandemic is different, and that they really couldn’t compare it.

There have been concerns among clinicians about youth mental health worsening during the pandemic. While it will require a long-term study to accurately measure the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, the survey suggests that clinicians have cause for concern.

When asked whether they’d like to be practising more self-care, twenty-seven of the forty students said yes. The remaining thirteen were less decided, their responses ranging from “I’d like to know how to even do it in the first place” to “If I had the time.”

When asked if and why they believed that it was important to practise self-care, I received a variety of reasons on why it was important:

“I believe self care is more than just physical, and more than just things that feel good in the moment. It’s challenging and introspective self-work, sometimes, and that can be as rewarding as it is difficult. Also, it can generally improve your health, and I think that’s wonderful.” — Anonymous “I don’t think self-care should be given its own separate category and should rather be integrated into our day-to-day lives rather than dedicating time to practice it. However, I do believe that we should actively take care of our mental health and avoid burnout, and self-care is integral to further developing ourselves physically and mentally. ” — Kaneera “I believe self-care is important, because treating and taking care of yourself often leads to a happier life. As someone who is a workaholic and struggles to practice self-care, I am often very stressed, experience burnout, and am not happy with myself/my performance.” — Anonymous “Yes! Self care is SO important for your body AND mind. If we don’t take care of ourselves, how are we supposed to take care of others? At the same time, finding a healthy balance between taking care of ourselves and supporting others is really important, especially for personal growth, even during quarantine.” — Srilekha “Probably, but if you never do it at all you can’t know what you’re missing, which might be better.” — Cassidy “For youth in particular, it’s easy for us to sacrifice in the moment in the hopes of working less and enjoying life later on. My own view is that the well-being of your present self is equally if not more important than the wellbeing of your future self, because the future self isn’t real.” — Joe

And finally, I asked what were some of their challenges to practising self-care.

“I think my biggest challenge is not doing enough self-care or being too lazy to do anything sometimes.” — Anonymous “I often lack motivation and time to practice self-care. In addition, I can be impatient and may not always see the benefits that come slowly. As a result, I become demotivated from practicing self-care, because I don’t see the advantages in the moment.” — Anonymous “I constantly feel like there’s a better way to be using my time, with all the school assignments, tests, personal projects, and competitions I want to get involved in. In that sense, self-care often seems like a waste of time.” — Sherry “Hustle culture plays a big part in telling everyone to just work, work, work. You pulled an all-nighter? Here’s a big ol’ gold star for you! Haven’t spent time with family/friends for the past month? You should be proud! If we can break this toxic culture and showcase the importance, it would definitely be easier to practise self care.” — Anonymous “Definitely feeling overwhelmed with school or lack of time, not because there won’t be any time for self care, but because self care can be difficult to initiate and school can cause a massive drain of mental energy.” — Sarvnaz

While the idea of self-care may seem indulgent, it doesn’t have to be. Taking care of your physical, emotional, and mental health is vital to your overall well-being, especially during a pandemic. You can create and tailor self-care routines and habits, adjusting it according to your preferences, challenges and the amount of time you have.

Need help bringing in self-care into your life? Check out these articles:

Sources:

Quotes edited for clarity. Please note that this blog post represents the opinions of Vivian Zhi and is not representative of the official stance of the FCSS-FESC.