People go into school and work all the time when they're slightly under the weather - I can't miss this test today. I've got that big meeting. I'll power through. But when we're sick, we're encouraged by classmates, professors, coworkers and employers to stay home. Missing a day could save us from becoming sicker and having to miss more days, leaving you to fall behind in our classes or forcing our coworkers to work longer hours.
So why do we feel like we have to lie and say we have a tummy ache or a migraine or a fever, when in reality we'd just spent the previous night crying about the loss of a family member, tension with a significant other, an argument with a friend, or for no particular reason, but just due to stress, anxiety, depression or fatigue?
That shouldn't be the case, especially when staying home for these reasons can be just as beneficial as taking care of a cold.
Here's the thing: simply not wanting to go to class or work is not the same thing as needing a mental health day, just as having the sniffles or a bit of a cough is not the same thing as having a sinus infection or pneumonia. But mental health issues are real too, even if we're not hearing voices or having psychotic manic episodes. Being exhausted due to too many insomnia-induced late nights, inability to focus due to depression, and the paralysis caused by an overwhelmed, anxious mind can all be detrimental to our performance in the classroom or workplace. We shouldn't ignore our have to add physical symptoms to our list of ailments that will keep us from having a productive work day.
Sometimes we just need a day to give ourselves some TLC. Sleep in a bit. Bake a batch of cookies (or two). Take a bubble bath. Do some yoga. Make a Chipotle run. Binge-watch a favorite series on Netflix while eating Ben and Jerry's. Fold laundry, if that's what works. And tomorrow, we can get up and go back to class or work and have a more productive day because we took care of ourselves.
