“Mental illness is increasing in Sweden and in other countries. Especially among younger women, more and more people are suffering from stress, anxiety, worry and reduced mental well-being. The proportion of sick leave due to mental illness has also increased significantly.
Over the past three decades, the proportion of long-term sick leave due to psychiatric diagnoses increased from 13 to 45 percent among women and from 16 to 33 percent among men.
The health problems in turn contribute to human suffering, reduced physical and psychological function, shortened life expectancy and significant costs at the individual and societal level, which can cause major problems both privately and in working life.
The established very severe psychiatric conditions, such as severe psychosis and bipolar disorder, are not increasing. On the other hand, there has been a large group of conditions, or manifestations, which are partly reminiscent of serious mental illness, but at the same time best described as a borderland to mental illness. “*
A borderland to mental illness … I myself was in this place, when I tried to become a master of multitasking and studied, worked, was a mother, therapist (younger son has a delay in language development), woman, wife, etc … Ala social roles we have and “what good to keep a lot of balls in the air” attitude, culture and many societal rules, not even to mention pandemic and social, economic and health problems- all it forms only to mental illness. We are taught to run extra workouts at the gym, invest a little more in the job, run another lap despite the rain. You are not taught to set boundaries, take a break when it feels hard, relax without Netflix and do not pour actively, on a power walk or paddle session.
It’s hard to let go. I used to sit until 4 in the morning with all the reading and writing. No one talks about that if you do not have support or a group of people around who would jump in and help, then combining and fulfilling all the roles, duties and responsibilities you have daily, for 24 hours, is almost impossible. Oops, I forgot a toilet break. And just that, sleep! You need to sleep. In my worst moments I slept 4 hours. NEVER MORE. That was one of the reasons why I changed professional path. I dreamed of becoming an academic teacher. Today I’m here running Philosophy.
I want to live here and now. I want to breathe deeply and slowly. I know that time cannot be stretched and the solution is an active choice. It is the most difficult thing, to opt out of something because, quite simply, physically, there is no time and internal resources for it. Or throw something away because it does not make one happy. Life is not black and white and sometimes it is simply an economy that decides which choice you make. Even then, even though it feels sour and depressing, there are small things you can think of to prfioritize yourself. In the end, it is the little things that together build a whole.
I dream of revaluation revolution. I stepped on the priority-relationship-with-myself-path and will continue. Self care, self-care, self-care, self-love, self-understanding. It is the beginning, but everything has a beginning and an end in yourself. If you do not take care of yourself, who will do it? And if you have children, duties – where should you get energy and will from?
Take care of yourself. The situation is serious! Hurry up and prioritise your relationship with yourself, it’s later than you think!
*https://uu.se/nyheter/artikel/?id=18164&typ=artikel&lang=sv
