Self-care when you live with a mental health condition is basically everything. It's your baseline. When you're on an airplane, the first thing that they tell you before they take off is, if you need an oxygen mask, put yours on first before you help someone else. I think living with a mental health condition for me, helped me understand that concept. It helped me for the first time put myself first, my health and my wellness. And it made it easier for me to make myself a priority.

Self-care is different for every person. Some people might like binge watching shows on a streaming service, like I do. Other people might need to have dance parties in their living room. Some people might need to develop a gratitude practice where they focus on three to five things that they're grateful for every day. Some people might get really into exercise and fitness, something physical. For me, it’s definitely a combination of things. But I always find out if I’m not practicing enough self-care because I will start to feel it, and it will start to impact my mood. And my husband will tell me "Hey, when was the last time you went for a walk? Do you need to go out for a drive? Do you need to take a break from the kids?"

Because sometimes it's hard to think about what will benefit us, what we need in that moment. So also, reaching out to family and friends to see what they think might help you is also a good thing to try when trying to figure out what self-care tools you can put in your arsenal to help you.