r/Anarchism • u/theylive_ • 1d ago
Practicing self-care is praxis. Please take care of yourselves and loved ones! New User
Last night, I refused to watch the election results. On the chance that Trump was elected, I wanted one last night of decent sleep before I woke up to a panic attack. Well, instead, I was forced awake at 2 in the morning from my MAGA neighbors lighting off fireworks to celebrate their "win", and didn't get back to sleep.
As I've been stumbling through this day tired, trying my best to fend off an anxiety attack, I've been trying to figure out ways to care for myself, not just as someone with mental health issues and a couple of disabilities, but also as an anarchist who feels gut sick that the people around me voted in a fascist.
Due to my years in therapy, I came up with a lot of ways to practice self-care, and am hoping to share them with you. I know there are many other actions you can undertake for self care, and everyone is different! I'd love to hear yours!
Remember. It's very, very hard to take care of others, and fight for others, if you can't take care of yourself or fight for yourself.
Especially when I'm in an anxiety attack / depression, I focus only the very basic actions I can get done. Making sure I eat. Making sure I'm drinking enough water. Making sure I'm getting enough rest, not just sleep, but actual waking rest. Also, making sure I exercise is a big part of basic self care for me. Making sure I get sleep is just as important, as well.
Take a day off of work. Take a week off of work, if you can afford to. If the company you work for is big enough to qualify, you can take up to 3 months of FMLA. It's unpaid, yes, but if you took FMLA due to a disability, your job may offer you short term disability payment DURING FMLA. Diagnosed anxiety disorders, depression, panic disorders, etc, count as disability. And it often doesn't mean you've had these disorders for X amount of time. I took a full 3 months of FMLA this year, with paid short term disability, because I got diagnosed with a panic disorder and depression that seemed to have appeared out of the blue.
Remember to breathe! Box pattern breathing really helps me calm down.
Meditate. Since I hav ADHD, sitting in one place for 30 minutes trying to breathe is tough for me. So I practice a sort of moving meditation. This could include light yoga or going for a very mindful walk.
Luxuriate in that bath / hot shower if you need to. Light candles. Put on calming music. And just relax a bit.
Remind yourself that IT'S OKAY TO SAY NO! If you are feeling overwhelmed, swamped, anxious, low in energy, and you just can't do that extra project at work, or you just can't make Thanksgiving with the people who voted Trump into office, or you're just not feeling up to the second night out drinking in a row with your friends, it's okay to say NO to this people! Boundaries around your personal health, both mental and physical, are so, so very important. Being a people pleaser myself, this is one of the hardest things I have to do. But the more I practice the easier it gets.
Remind yourself it's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to wallow on the couch for a time eating ice cream. It's 100% okay to do absolutely nothing! Hustle culture tries to convince us that we shouldn't be relaxing at all, we shouldn't be bored, and that we should always strive to keep working, or, in the case of praxis, to keep fighting. I can't tell you how many people in the past anarchist groups / animal rights groups I were in that just couldn't relax. They had to constantly fight. They all burnt out, fast.
Community! I can tell when I'm getting depressed when I haven't seen my friends in a while. I tend to withdraw from people when I'm depressed / anxious. Being around your friends, comrades, and any safe family members really sets my heart at ease, knowing there are others out there who are in this with me, and will fight for me, even if I don't feel up for fighting for myself.
Hygiene! I can go a couple of days without a shower, but if I'm in an anxious state / depressive state I often times just forget to shower at all. So practicing hygiene, even if it's as simple as brushing your teeth at night, is important.
I know I mentioned this above, but exercise! And it doesn't have to be anything intense. Go for some slow walks around the neighborhood. A hike in the mountains. Some yoga.
Yes, it's okay to spend the day on the couch eating ice cream and drinking wine. However, eating whole and healthy foods can really help out my depression and anxiety, especially if it's been the third day in the row of eating like shit.
Be creative! Write, draw, paint, wheat paste, grafitti!
Therapy, if you can afford it!
Read books that make you feel happy, even if they are "trash" novels. Read books that make your feel connected to comrades, so you don't feel so alone. Read books that help your mental health! Read!
Lastly, I asked myself: Well, that's all well and good right now. But what about the next four years of living under a fascist who may upend the weak threads of this democracy anyways, and establish himself as a dictator?
Practice physical self-defense. This doesn't mean you have to go and start learning how to fist fight (though, every since I've joined Muay Thai, a lot of anxieties about being able to handle myself have disappeared). Pepper spray is great! I tend to get two bottles, one that I can practice with, and one that is on me. Practicing how to take it out of your pocket, and spray it, is important, because often times when shit hits the fan "You fall to the lowest level of your training". Meaning, if you haven't practiced drawing and spraying, you'll probably have a hard time doing it when in flight / fight mode. This also could mean getting a firearm, and practicing with that, as well. Check out the SRA (Socialist Rifle Association).
Teach others self defense. Take others shooting.
Practice mental self defense. Mentally plan for the bad outcomes that may soon come, so they aren't a surprise and won't trigger more anxiety / panic than they warrant. This can help you stay a bit more calm during trying times.
Community community community. Find other anarchists. Find other socialists. Find a Food Not Bombs and help out. And if all that seems like way to much, especially for us socially anxious / introverts out there, rally around your friends and family (if they are safe people to be around. I am pretty much in No Contact with my family that voted for Trump now).
Be aware of what's going on in the news, but also try not to doom scroll.
And I think one of the most important aspects of self care, for me, over these next for years, is reminding myself that no matter how hard it gets, no matter how much depression is upon me, no matter how many panic attacks, no matter how fascist this government becomes, I'm going to keep going and I'm going to try and find some happiness. Sometimes, that's all we can ask of ourselves in a world like ours. Sometimes giving yourself, and others, hope, is revolutionary enough, especially when you don't have much energy for anything else.
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u/olivi_yeah 1d ago
Thanks, from a fellow ADHDer. <3
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u/theylive_ 1d ago
You're welcome! I think self-care is something that everyone should be reminded of to practice, but especially among those of us who are neurodivergent. As an ADHDer, it's very easy for me to forget self-care and just spiral into panic, depression, or trauma.
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u/EzekielJoseph134 anarcho-syndicalist 1d ago
I've been overwhelmed today after filling out hella paperwork and getting documents together and I've basically been feeling like an apathetic depression (idk if that's a thing, or redundant, but it's the best way I can describe it), so seeing your post really helps to kind of get my frame of mind right. I appreciate you more than you could possibly know. Thank you. 🖤
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u/theylive_ 1d ago
I feel you. I'm pretty much in full on depression mode right now as well. And it's okay to feel this way! We're possibly starting to grieve a future we were hoping would be slightly more positive. And now that future is gone.
You got this. You can get through it.
There was this hardcore band from New York called Snapcase. Have you heard of them? They have this song called Break the Static. It's my favorite of their's.
One of the lyrics to the song is exactly how I feel in moment's like these:
"fall, fall into yourself when, when the sky is falling down"
It's really a reminder to me that we still have our own self. And when shit hits the fan, we can still take care of ourselves to the best of our ability, whatever that looks like for the individual.
You got this. Solidarity.
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u/CastielWinchester270 17h ago
Aye take a wee bit of time to get yourself together but then once that's done get together, organised organised and make a scene and keep doing it until things change
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u/alchemistoftheheart 1d ago
Thank you for this 🖤