If you’ve been on the Internet lately, I’m betting you’ve heard the term “self-care.” And you can see why it’s such a hot topic—a lot of us struggle with taking care of ourselves because we’re too busy, or we don’t see the point, or it feels selfish to focus on our own needs so much. The concept of self-care gives us permission to spend the time and resources necessary to take care of ourselves. That said, like any positive thing, it’s possible for this to get twisted into something negative, whether it’s because of a misunderstanding or, as is all too common, somebody’s trying to sell something. We’ve gathered twenty-five quotes from around the web where people explain which self-care concepts they find to be useless, overhyped, or downright toxic. Read on and see if you’ve fallen into any of these traps.
#1: The Avoidant Conversationalist
Look, I totally understand being careful about what situations you put yourself into, especially when your mental health is not the best. I myself have had to withdraw from social situations when I knew that I wasn’t in a good place to deal with them at that point.
But it is all too easy to go from “I need to withdraw from a negative situation for my mental health” to “I’m going to avoid everything that makes me even slightly uncomfortable because I don’t like how it feels.” Learn the difference, and don’t let the notion of self-care keep you from doing things that are hard but necessary.