Our mental health is often something that we can take for granted, especially if we’ve got busy lives. As a foster parent, you might prioritise the needs of the foster children in your care over your own.
While emotional resilience is an important skill to have, it’s also important to recognise signs that you might need to take some time out of your day to practice self-care.
We’re going to look at why you should take care of your mental health while fostering, and how you can go about it alongside your role as a foster parent.
Why is my mental health important?
Self-care is never selfish. In fact, it’s an important part of everyday life so that you can stay resilient to the problems you experience. If you’re not feeling like yourself, then you’re not going to be able to do as good a job as usual.
Pushing through when you’re feeling overwhelmed will only make you feel worse in the long run. You could end up with burnout, and need to take some time away from your fostering role to recover.
Taking care of your mental health each day can help to reduce the likelihood of burnout, and ensure that you’re able to rest and reset, ready to face your next challenge.
Good mental health helps you to:
- Process the world around you and how you interact with it.
- Think clearly about how to tackle difficult tasks.
- Use healthy coping strategies when it comes to stress.
- Empowers you to complete tasks to the best of your ability.
- Maintain your physical health.
- Socialise with family and friends.
What is burnout?
Burnout is when you feel mentally and physically exhausted, and it’s typically caused by long-term stress or a poor work-life balance. It can affect anyone, and it can also impact each of us differently. Burnout can make you feel unmotivated and detached, as well as hopeless about your situation.
While burnout is often considered to be a workplace phenomenon, it can also be caused by the demands of being a parent. This can have a severe impact on your quality of life, so it’s important to recognise the signs of potential burnout so you can take time out for yourself to recover.
Knowing when to take care of yourself
There’s no shame in taking time out of your day to look after yourself. It doesn’t have to be anything too time consuming – it can be as small as having a cup of tea and sitting in the garden.
The crucial thing to look out for is signs of stress that could lead to a decline in your mental health. This could be a range of things, such as physical, emotional, or behavioural symptoms.
What to look for:
- Feeling tired or exhausted.
- Anxiety or panic attacks.
- Frequent headaches or migraines.
- Feeling demotivated, overwhelmed, or a loss of enjoyment.
- Irritability or feeling short tempered.
- Difficulty concentrating with tasks and losing focus.
What can you do to take care of your own mental health?
There are lots of things you can do to take care of your mental health. Here are a few of our top tips.
Take some me-time
Find some time out of your day just for you. This could be to sit in the garden with a cup of tea, or finding somewhere quiet to sit and read a good book. It could be working on a creative hobby, or going for a run. Even having just half an hour out of your day to do something that you enjoy doing can help to improve your mental health.
Look after your physical health
You’d be surprised by how much looking after your physical health can impact on your mental health, too. Choose a physical hobby to focus on in your spare time, whether that’s going for a run, a swim in your local leisure centre, or even just a half hour walk. Exercise releases endorphins in our brains which can make you feel better after a run or time spent at the gym.
Healthy eating
Eating a healthy, balanced diet can help improve how we feel in ourselves. Making sure you eat your five-a-day, and cook a range of wholesome dishes from scratch rather than relying on takeaways can have a wonderful impact on our overall health. If you’re not sure where to get started with meal inspiration, check out BBC Good Food.
Quality time with loved ones
It can be easy to take the time we spend with our loved ones for granted, too. Dedicate some time to spend with your nearest and dearest doing things together, such as playing board games, going on family outings, or watching films together.
Adjust your schedule
If you find yourself becoming overwhelmed with everything you’ve got on your plate, see if there’s anything you can do to adjust your schedule to ease the pressure. It’s okay to say no to things if you haven’t got the time or the patience to deal with it just yet.
Surround yourself with nature
Taking the time out of your day to go for a walk around green spaces such as your local park or woodland, or to spend time soaking in the sounds of birdsong, can have a wonderful impact on your mental health. Research shows that connecting with nature can boost your mood.
Reach out to your support network
You should never suffer in silence if you’re finding things are getting a bit much. Your support network is there to help you, so that you can do your best for the children in your care. Reach out to your support network when you need a helping hand to ease the burden.
This could be ringing your supervising social worker for a chat, asking your family and friends to help, or completing training on a topic that could better your understanding of challenges that arise in fostering.
Be kind to yourself
Most importantly, be kind to yourself when you’re finding things tough. You’ve done an amazing job to get this far in your fostering journey, and you can only do your best. If things don’t seem to be going to plan, give yourself a bit of grace so that you can bounce back.
Support for foster carers
We’re proud of the support that we offer our foster parents to help prevent things like burnout. As a foster parent with Clifford House, you’ll be entitled to:
- 24/7 support.
- A dedicated supervising social worker with a realistic case load.
- Training tailored to your needs.
- Two weeks of paid respite care if you need it.
- Support groups with other foster parents.
Fostering allowances
We know that fostering can be a tough job at times. So we ensure that all of our foster parents are rewarded for their hard work with generous fostering allowances. Alongside fostering payments, you’ll also receive additional payments for your foster child on their birthday and for religious festivals such as Christmas.
Start your fostering journey today
Do you want to know more about fostering and what this could mean for you and your family? If you’re already considering a career in fostering, then you’re halfway there.
Give us a call on 0800 369 8515 to speak to a friendly member of the team, or fill out an enquiry form for one of them to get in touch with you. They can answer any questions you’ve got about fostering requirements or what the process will involve.