Cultivating a skincare regimen has gotten me through my darkest moments.
It’s been two years since I’ve had my last severe panic attack. Yet one night last week, I found myself in an all-too-familiar, terrifying territory once again—heart rapidly pumping, short of breath, and full of tears as I tried my hardest not to faint. All I could do was lay paralyzed on my kitchen floor as its cold hardwood boards welcomed me back like an old friend.
The mantras grounded me just enough to give my body the strength to move again. So I crawled inch-by-inch into my bathroom, praying the whole way that someone, anyone, would call at that moment to help interrupt my onslaught of overwhelmingness.
The next thing I did was less conventional. I pulled myself up to the sink, let my eyes linger on a tear-riddled face, took a breath, and began my skincare routine.
"A skincare routine, like any other form of self-care, can be soothing and calming," says Dr. Sanam Hafeez.
"On a deeper level, it makes you feel like you’re honoring yourself aesthetically, by taking time out for yourself. Those few minutes, if spent going through steps in a rhythmic, calm, and purposeful manner, can almost be meditative."
Taking the time to care for my skin gave me an opportunity to practice mindfulness and the ability to acknowledge the emotions I was experiencing in each present moment, like the calming feel of water, without any harsh judgment.
This is a practice that has been shown to buffer depression and anxiety by stopping worrisome thoughts, according to a study on more than 1,100 adults published in March 2019 in Frontiers in Psychology.