You’ve heard of burnout… but what about self-help fatigue? Is it bad to think about our mental health too much?
In short, yes. But how can trying to improve our mental wellbeing actually make us feel worse?
I’ve been on a cyclical journey for the past 7 years (give or take) of mental health struggles that eventually lead to “picking myself up by the bootstraps” in a spur of motivation to improve my situation… only to burn out after a few weeks or so, berate my shortcomings, and the cycle starts again.
Mental health awareness has taken the forefront of public conversation in recent years. If your Instagram feed is anything like mine, I’m bombarded with posts telling me to check in with myself, be mindful, eat right, exercise, and make mental wellness a priority. Yet, as with many things, there can be a tipping point with self-improvement, and this constant bombardment can also create unrealistic expectations of what our mental health should be or look like.
I’ve had to ask myself: is it possible that the problem isn’t that I am just doomed forevermore to my own perceived shortcomings… but that I try to do too much, too quickly, and think too much? So much so that it becomes counter-productive and even harmful?
This has only just become a lightbulb moment for me (at 28, it took me a while, I know!)
If you’ve also found yourself on this cycle, or feel like no matter how much you “self-improve” you feel like you’re taking backward steps… let’s explore the balance between awareness and over-analysis.
The Value of Mental Health Awareness
Before we get into it, it’s essential to recognise that being attuned to our thoughts and feelings is actually important, but it’s about getting the right balance. Recognising emotions, triggers, and behaviours helps us identify when we might need to rest, seek support, or change our environment. For people who have faced challenges such as anxiety, depression, or trauma, this awareness can be life-saving, helping to move forward through overwhelm.
In moderation, mindfulness practices, therapy sessions, and honest self-reflection can genuinely provide relief, clarity, and empowerment.
When Awareness Becomes Overthinking
But there is a fine line between being mindful of our mental health and overanalyzing it. Constantly monitoring our thoughts, behaviours, and feelings can lead to rumination: a mental loop that keeps us stuck on distressing or unhelpful thoughts.
This over-focus can actually make existing issues feel bigger than they really are and create stress over situations that may not be as problematic as we think.
The problem with over-analysis:
Heightened Anxiety: Overthinking can make minor issues seem larger and more significant than they are. This hyper-awareness can lead to a cycle where anxiety feeds itself.
Perfectionism and Self-Criticism: Excessive attention to our mental health can create unrealistic standards for how we should feel or respond to stress. This can lead to self-judgment and guilt when we don’t measure up. This definitely contributes to the cycles I experience, as mentioned above.
Neglect of External Experiences: Focusing too intently on our internal world may cause us to self-isolate and miss out on the grounding effects of connecting with our environment, relationships, and activities that we enjoy.
Creating Balance Between Mindfulness and Action
The goal is to develop a healthy relationship with mental health that promotes self-awareness without becoming overwhelming. Here are some ways you can strike that balance:
Schedule Check-ins: Instead of continuously monitoring your mood throughout the day, set specific times to check in with yourself a few times a day. This can be as simple as asking, “How am I feeling right now?” in the morning and evening. There are many apps that can send you a notification as a reminder and the free Apple Health app even does this now too.
Engage in External Activities: Do activities that draw your focus outward, such as hobbies, volunteer work, or spending time with friends. These activities can take the focus away from yourself, offer perspective and reduce the time spent analyzing your mental state.
Trust the Process: Trust that you are already equipped with tools to manage your mental health. If you’ve developed strategies through therapy or self-care routines, lean on them without needing to revisit them constantly. If you’ve found strategies online, choose one or two to focus on for now. Trying to do too many at once can contribute to overwhelm and feeling like you’re failing when you inevitably can’t keep up with them all! Emotionally, it can be completely exhausting. Focussing on just one or two will become second nature without thinking and then you can focus on another.
Practice Imperfection: Embrace the idea that not every negative feeling requires immediate attention. Sometimes, feelings pass on their own. Learning to accept the natural ebb and flow of emotions can prevent the urge to “fix” everything immediately. Emotional regulation isn’t about squashing or fixing your negative feelings whenever they arise, it’s about noticing them, feeling them, and being able to move on.
When to Seek Help
It’s important to note that consistently thinking about your mental health may signal underlying anxiety or obsessive-compulsive tendencies. If you find that your mental health check-ins are interfering with your ability to enjoy life or accomplish daily tasks, reaching out to a mental health professional can really help you.
Awareness with Moderation
Thinking about our mental health is not inherently negative — in fact, it’s essential for personal growth and wellbeing. Like any good thing, too much focus can tip the scales toward unhelpful rumination. Having experienced this first-hand and the way it can seriously hinder your growth, it’s so important to find the right balance between awareness and action. In doing so, we can maintain mental wellness in a way that nurtures rather than hinders our peace of mind. Only then can we truly start to grow.
Remember, being kind to ourselves includes allowing permission to not have everything figured out all the time. A healthy mind isn’t one that’s always perfectly balanced but one that is resilient and adaptable!
You can’t cross a bridge in one big leap, it takes careful steps one at a time.
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