I’ve cried twice today, eaten a strange, ill-timed conglomeration of food, and forced myself to delete multiple games off of my phone. You guessed it, it’s finals season again. But finals season looks a little different when you have a mental illness. So here I sit, reminding myself that I need to take care of myself now more than ever. And instead of listing off ways that I can take care of myself, I’m gonna list reasons why I – and you – should.

1) You can’t do anything effectively – including work – if you’re having back to back panic attacks.

It always seems doable at the outset. If you stay up all night, you’ll get more done. Sure you’ll be tired, but that’s what break’s for, right? WRONG. If you want to finish your semester strong, you’re going to need energy. Sleeping, eating, and maintaining good hygiene have just as much of an impact on your grades as studying does. It’s your secret tool – use it.

2) Life doesn’t stop during finals. This time is important too.

It’s easy to get sucked into the mentality that finals somehow are different from real life, a sad little dystopian world off to the side of your otherwise normal life. And while it’s true that finals do bring their own special form of hell, they do reside in the real world with you. Just because finals occur, doesn’t mean life gets to stop. Normal self-care habits still need to be in effect.

3) If you want to enjoy your break, you need to make it that far.

Break is the bright light on the horizon of all of this torture. It’s the reason you keep a running countdown. There’s only so many days before you get to go home and let your backpack collect dust. And that’s all well and good, but that’s assuming that we make it that far. Passing out from sleep exhausting, falling into another bout of depression, or exponentially increasing your anxiety will not help you reach your goal. You need to make it to the Christmas dinner in order to eat it.

4) You’re always worth the effort.

It’s easy to notice when others treat you badly. Sometimes we only see the way we treat ourselves in hindsight. It’s easy to forget that we have to be active investors in our own well-being. But we do. That doesn’t change just because you have 4 essays and 2 exams. You deserve to be taken care of, you deserve the time and effort and energy. It’s easiest to forget that when you have 457 other things on your mind, but that’s when it’s most important to remind yourself. You’re worth the effort.

Finals will be over soon, and we’ll all get a reprieve from the roller coaster of higher education. We’re going to make it, and we’re going to see the other side. But in the meantime, remember to take care of yourself. I need to remember too. It just makes the Christmas pie that much sweeter.