Self-care can look different on each person. A healthy diet, exercise and getting enough sleep are all ways people can practice self-care, but the Carolina Forum for Ethics hoped to address deeper concerns with their Ethics of Self-Care panel on Wednesday.
Panelists discussed self-care's presence in their own lives and how identities can influence a person's ability to take care of themselves. The ethics of using self-care products and institutions' responsibilities in promoting self-care were also topics of interest.
“I think we just want to challenge everyone to think about what self-care is and if they think it's important and what it might look like for them and how they contribute to society,” said Sally Moore, organizer and administrator of the Parr Center for Ethics.
The panel featured a range of perspectives, including those of Terri Phoenix, the director of the LGBTQ Center at UNC, Jodi Flick, a professor in the School of Social Work, and Abram Milton, a veteran and employee at Counseling and Psychological Services at UNC.
Flick stressed that everything you do can be self-care, and one of the integral parts of self-care is building connections with other people.
“The best thing a human being can do for themselves is social connectedness, having warm, supportive, satisfying, compassionate relationships with other people," Flick said. "Not having social connectedness has more impact on your health than smoking, than obesity, being sedentary. It's terrible for you in every way and you don't need any products to do it.”
The group debated about institutions that produce a stigma around self-care, such as the military, and the ethics of self-care advertising campaigns for products.
“I think being aware of that agenda, that they're trying to sell to you and stuff like that, and being that smart, critically-thinking consumer in relation to that and then from that, make a conscious decision about what self-care means for you as an individual,” Milton said.
The panel also discussed how racial and socioeconomic identities influence one’s access to self-care. The panel addressed the question of selfishness regarding self-care when many live in poverty that prevents them from focusing on this aspect of their life.
