Being Kinder to yourself can improve your Mental Wellbeing

You ever look at a picture of your younger self and wonder if they saw you now what would they say?

According to Sahar Arshad, "There is a trend on Tiktok where people are showing images of themselves when they were younger, talking directly to that younger self and telling them how life has unfolded".

By engaging in this conversation, looking at a picture of your younger self, can make you feel guilty and have you asking yourself questions like (why did I embarrass myself like this? What if I hadn't made this decision?), or help us acknowledge the growth and changes we go through as we grow older, making us appreciate our journey. Talking to your younger self can potentially help us to be kinder to your current self. Imagine this, someone intentionally or unintentionally hurt you and you want to numb the pain, so you decide to go binge drinking alcohol. Now, if you look at a happy picture of your younger self and say "I am putting alcohol in your system, making you intoxicated and vulnerable", you would start to feel guilty for doing this to an innocent child.

According to Mathur, many of us do not consider the concerns of our younger selves, because we think of our younger selves as vulnerable, needing, and emotional... But what we do not realize is that relating our current situation to our younger self can help us be kinder and less self-sabotaging to our current self. Mathur points out, you can look back at that version of yourself through a new perspective, and perhaps reinterpret that vulnerability in a different light. This can help us to re-evaluate our decisions and focus more on maintaining our peace and innocence.

How can we practice being kinder and more self-loving? Here are a few tips you can try:

- Be more aware of your feelings in a situation. If you are feeling angry and frustrated, remove yourself and take a few minutes to calm down and then revisit the situation. Sometimes we make decisions while we are angry that we regret when we are calmer.

- Practice self-care and self-love. Always find time to enjoy things you love. Set aside some time during your busy schedule to journal, for skin care, jogging, or exercising. This can evoke a sense of confidence and improve both your physical and mental health. Once you feel good, you look good and this leads to an excellent performance from you at your job, school, or even at home.

- Talking kindly to yourself. Think about how you speak to the people you love and care about, and then turn that voice on yourself. Be conscious about your inner voice – it must be a positive one rather than a negative one. For example, if someone speaks rudely to us we distance ourselves from them, the same should apply when you speak to yourself and of yourself.

- Setting realistic expectations for yourself in any given situation.

- Savor your physical senses. We can find pleasure anywhere, even in the simple moments of savoring smells, tastes, or beautiful views.

- Give Yourself Recognition. Often, we’re quick to acknowledge the achievements of others but slow to acknowledge our own. Become more aware of your own achievements and give yourself recognition.

- Respect yourself.

- Remind yourself of your good qualities.

- Stop Trying to Be Perfect. People who set a standard of perfection for themselves are setting themselves up for failure. After all, perfection is unachievable. Can you think of anything more unkind than making success impossible for yourself?

Why does kindness matter? Research shows that kindness to ourselves:

- strengthens our sense of self

– our identity

- boosts our self-esteem

- helps with our confidence

- improves our sense of optimism

- helps us cope better with stress

- improves resilience

– our ability to bounce back after a setback

Get in the habit today to chat with your younger self. Think of present you as a kind, compassionate parent, and the younger you as the child. How would you want to raise your child? What values would you want to instill in your child? How might you offer your child some supportive words?

By following these few tips to be kinder to ourselves we are:

- Less likely to self-sabotage ourselves and cause self-harm.

- Preventing our mental health from getting worse.

- Prevent us from developing anxiety, depression, and other mental conditions

- We are able to perform and contribute better in society when we are physically and mentally fit.

If you have tried these tips with no improvements, contact your local Board Certified Psychiatrist- where you can be professionally evaluated and treated with medications that help you reduce your symptoms of anxiety, depression, or any other mental condition.

Remember if we are not kind to ourselves, we are more likely to rely on illegal substances as a coping mechanism, for our feelings and thoughts, and this can lead to a number of psychiatric disorders that your Certified Psychiatrist can treat.

"Be Kind to yourself, then let your kindness fill the world"


Kind regards, 

Psychiatric Associates & Team

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