Mental Health for Activists

Feb 19, 2008 - 11:28 AM PST

I have spent the last 7 or 8 years of my life doing hardcore activism for mental health issues and have learned a lot about the pitfalls of being an activist for a lot of causes. I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people and learn more about some of the most progressive and awesome movements in our country. It has been truly inspiring to see so many people devoted to every cause imaginable, from saving the environment to some causes I had no idea existed -- like protecting sharks!

It seems the one constant in advocacy activists letting others know what they need to do. Turn off the lights in the rooms you’re not in, turn off the water while your brushing your teeth, take care of your mental health. What has been fascinating for me to watch is how many activists will lose themselves in their messages and not take time to take care of their own mental health. Political activists during campaign years will go weeks without sleep and put every ounce of energy and thought they have into rallying other people, but seriously lose their mental health in the process. And they’re not alone. It seems this is a common pitfall for a large amount of people and I think it takes away from all of our messages when we are working so hard to promote one thing that we seriously run the risk of losing our stability.

I am not saying you shouldn’t do everything you feel you need to do or you shouldn’t climb the tree you want to protect and sleep in it for months to make sure it isn’t cut down. What I am saying is if you want people to believe you and if you really want to be able to climb more trees the rest of your life, then you will also need to take care of yourself during the process. Get some sleep. Talk about how your activism makes you feel and the challenges you face so you’re not bottling everything up inside. If you do party, watch how much you are drinking or doing drugs and don’t let that be your outlet for what is frustrating you. The more we are able to take care of ourselves the more people we’ll be able to inspire with whatever our messages may be!

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