Self-Care and its Effect on Mental Health

Faculty Sponsor

Rachel Murray

College

Arts and Sciences

Discipline(s)

Social Work

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 3-26-2021

Abstract

Self-Care is an extremely important facet of maintaining mental health and reducing the effects of burnout, but it is widely underused and not prioritized. It is well established that setting aside even just 30 minutes a day for self-care can drastically improve mood, burnout, reduce stress levels, and increase productivity. This study aims to determine the effect of self-care rituals on overall mood. Specifically, this investigates whether scheduling 30 minutes out of the day dedicated to self-care positively effects mood. In this context, self-care is defined as dedicated time to personally enriching content. To test this hypothesis that 30 minutes of self-care per day enhances overall mood, I created a single-subject design and surveyed myself daily to get a baseline, then surveyed myself after adding the intervention of 30 minutes of daily self-care. I had created a survey that I answered daily in order to track my feelings and overall mood. The results suggested that the hypothesis was correct, and self-care creates a positive effect on mood.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Emma Magee is a senior Social Work major at Valparaiso University, originally from Guilford, Connecticut. She interned at Porter County Juvenile Detention Center during the spring semester of her junior year, and is currently an intern at PACT’s Recovery Connection. In the fall Emma will be attending Loyola University in Chicago where she will receive a Master’s in Social Work, concentrated in children, youth, and family.

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