On TikTok, “#Selfcare” has 28.2 billion views, while the hashtag (主题标签) can be found on over 66 million Instagram posts. Also, books about self-care often top many people s shopping lists.
On the surface, it makes complete sense. Who wouldn’t like the idea of making oneself feel better and taking care of their mind, body and soul? Yet, we have to be careful not to view self-care as a cure-all solution to our problems. Self-care pursued without awareness of your specific needs and consistent evaluation can cause emotional, financial, mental and physical consequences.
According to Zishan Khan, a psychologist with Mindpath Health, self-care can lead to a person becoming overwhelmed (不知所措的) when met with a sea of advice, emerging everywhere from podcasts to self-help books. “So don’t allow what others suggest to cloud your internal voice,” says Khan. “Self-care can only benefit a person if it’s consistent with their goals and values.”
Khan further emphasizes the danger of unregulated physically-centered self-care advice, such as from influencers. “Their content often overly focuses on beauty and improving one’s looks. This can unintentionally lead to body image concerns and thus actually worsen one’s mental health,” she says.
Another danger can come when self-care actions reach the level of obsession or addiction, says Melissa Boudin, a psychologist of Choosing Therapy. “When you spend a large amount of time thinking about or practising a certain self-care behavior, this may be a sign that self-care has gone from beneficial to harmful,” she says, using the example of self-care through healthy eating and then going so far as to develop an eating disorder.
Lena Suarez-Angelino, a licensed clinical social worker, recommends creating a list of activities that make you feel better but don’t overextend you. Worthwhile and beneficial self-care may include anything from time with loved ones to walking. If you can’t really afford to buy dinner for the fifth time this week, that’s not it.
12. What does paragraph 1 mainly suggest?
A.Self-care pursuit needs restricting. |
B.Online interaction becomes popular. |
C.Awareness of personal needs matters. |
D.People attach much attention to self-care. |
13. What can do harm to the self-care practice in Zishan Khan’s opinion?
A.Being open to new self-care ideas. |
B.Always keeping your goals in mind. |
C.Taking up too many responsibilities. |
D.Caring too much about others’ advice. |
14. Why does Melissa Boudin mention the example about eating in paragraph 5?
A.To prove addiction to self-care actions can be harmful. |
B.To warn physically-centered self-care advice is useless. |
C.To show how to make yourself feel better in a right way. |
D.To tell the reason for people’s worry about others’ views. |
15. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To introduce the dangers of self-care advice. |
B.To encourage us to read more self-help books. |
C.To remind us to be cautious to pursue self-care. |
D.To discuss some ways to make ourselves better. |