Cancer, Corona & Me: 6 Ways to Look After Your Mental Health

What a crazy world we are living in at the moment. If you had asked me at the start of the year what the biggest hit to my mental health would be, I would have said my cancer diagnosis. Little did I know there would be a much bigger hit coming.

I live alone, I own a business with several staff members, and I’m in the middle of getting cancer treatment - all things that are stacked against me to keep mentally healthy during this time. But one thing I have learned is that you have to put the work in if you want to see results.

Tips for mental health through skin cancer and the coronavirus

So, here are the key things I have been doing to keep myself mentally healthy.

1. Set a routine

For me personally, I know that I am not productive when the negative thoughts and fears can creep in. So, having a routine right now is so important for me. I have started a fitness regime which I never thought I would say, but I work out every Mon – Fri. Even on the mornings where I don’t want to get out of bed and my body is achy from immunotherapy I still just go for a relaxing walk. NO EXCUSES.

2. Do something that makes you smile

Every day I try to do one thing that makes me happy. It could be watching baby announcement videos on YouTube, dancing around my apartment to my favorite song, baking brownies, or having a wine on my balcony watching the sunset.

3. Set specific times to consume the news

The news is a scary place at the moment, and I found the more I consumed, the more it affected my mental health. I felt scared, anxious, and overwhelmed, which are not healthy emotions for me. So I decided to set boundaries around my consumption and I only watch the news when the Prime Minister or my state Premier (I live in Australia) are doing a press conference. The media are exaggerating everything right now, so if it doesn’t come from those key people then I don’t need to know about it.

4. Be honest with yourself

For me, self-reflection is extremely important. I have worked really hard on recognizing how I’m feeling, acknowledging my emotions, and then doing something proactive about them. It’s basically about checking in with myself and seeing how I’m feeling and what is causing that feeling. For example, at the start of my self-isolation, I was binge-watching a lot of TV and I noticed I was feeling very flat. So I decided to only allow binge-watching on Sundays, and during the week I am allowed 1 episode a night. This meant I had spare time to read, listen to music, podcast, paint, etc. and that made me feel more productive.

5. Kick some goals to boost your confidence

I feel my best mentally when I am achieving something, so I have started to learn mini skills. I know learning a new language or becoming a singer right now is way too ambitious, but a mini skill is something I know I can achieve, and once I do, it gives me such a boost of confidence. So far, I have learned how to make the perfect roast potatoes from a YouTube video with Jamie Oliver, mastered the winged eyeliner trend, and this week I signed up for Masterclass.com and I plan on learning about screenplay writing from my idol, Aaron Sorkin (this isn’t something for my career but I’ve always just been interested in this)!

6. Clear your mind

Finally, I have started meditation, gratitude, and breathwork. All three things have helped reset my mind so that I can think clearly. I love the guided meditations from gabbybernstein.com they are motivating as well as balancing and I always feel better once I have taken 10 minutes to just be still. I have a gratitude diary I write in every day that helps me actively think about all of the good things I have in my life. Finally, I just discovered Wim Hof on YouTube and he teaches breath work, which is basically just breathing mindfully, and it has been said to have amazing therapeutic effects.