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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Rowan chapter.

 Disclaimer- I’m really lucky to not struggle with mental health. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live with a mental illness and I have no intention to pretend that this list is a cure-all for mental illness. Instead, this is intended to be a list of how I take care of myself mentally.

Sometimes I find myself in the middle of a funk where I feel like I can’t do anything right. It’s like I’ve lost the ability to connect to the rest of the world. Everything that I do feels wrong. The way that I look feels wrong. The way that I woke up that morning feels wrong. I am wrong. When I get like this I know that I have to actively shift myself into a better mindset. Here’s what I do to reset my mental state.

I’ll clean my apartment. 

You know what they say, “A clean space, is a clean mind,” Whenever I find myself in a funk my apartment is more than likely messy. When I stop taking care of myself I immediately stop taking care of my apartment. Just by cleaning my space, I feel instantly better.

I’ll re-organize my google calendar, planners and evaluate my to-do list.

One of the reasons why I might be feeling upset is because I’m overwhelmed. Reassessing my priorities and examining what I can cut out of my life helps out a lot.

I’ll go to bed. 

I don’t sleep a lot. Sometimes if I’m really burnt out I let myself sleep as much as I need to. I’m really ashamed to admit it but sometimes when I decide to catch up on sleep I’ll pass out for a day straight. It’s not the healthiest thing in the world but, it makes me feel better. 

I’ll write in my diary. 

I like that I can be as ugly as I want while writing in my diary. I feel like getting out my feelings in a passionate but constructive way is such a mood booster for me.

I’ll engage with escapism. 

If I can’t help but think about my life I’ll worry about someone else’s. After watching or reading something really dramatic my problems feel smaller and more manageable.

I’ll put on makeup or nail polish.

Focusing on myself even for a few moments makes me feel immediately better. I love the feeling of being a little selfish for a while.

I’ll take a mental health day.

If worse comes to worst I cancel everything so I can take a day off. It’s important to me to have a do-nothing day when I can’t shake bad feelings because I know that my work will be affected if I don’t.

Destiny is currently enrolled in Columbia University's MFA Writing program. She is a national writer at Her Campus and the former editor-in-chief of Her Campus Rowan. She likes thrifting, romance novels, cooking shows, and can often be found binging documentaries.