Susan Rachele On The Importance of Self-Care

You are your own worst critic—how many of us find this statement to be true? I'm Susan Rachele and I’ve been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), and Body Dysmorphia Disorder (BDD). I also have a learning disability in the form of geographical dyslexia. The reason why I mention this is to show you how much worse it could be for someone battling with mental health disorders and to be their own worst critic as well. In a word, it's a nightmare, but it's also given me the opportunity to learn more about myself and change the things I'm not happy with.

As someone who struggles with body image, self-care does not come easily to me. In fact, I believe my reaching out to a cognitive behavioral therapist is already the biggest step I've taken in the arena of self-care. Aside from my therapist, I also work with an herbalist and a meditation guru to help me understand and overcome certain aspects of my behavior. I acknowledge that I cannot do this alone. As such, I have put into place many more self-care activities, like low dosage SSRI, exposure therapy, and even ritual prevention. I also plan to maintain therapy sessions as they have provided me the best guidance I could ever hope for.

To everyone who may be reading this right now, please take care of yourselves. Whether you are diagnosed with mental health disorders or just feeling the blues, self-care is important and must be taken seriously, especially at a time like this when the world is moving at a fast-pace. Self-care may also help in preventing such mental health disorders from developing in the first place.

If there's anything you'd like to ask me, Susan Rachele, please feel free to touch base at any time.