issue 20// vol 45 Don't rely solely on self-care >» There’s no face mask available to mask your mental health Roshni Riar Staff Writer he practice of self-care has been steadily exploding into popularity, attracting people with its ease and potential “cure-all” effects. Just google “DIY self-care” and numerous lists of essential oil blends for anxiety and depression will show up. Need to forget about the not-quite- physical, ever-present pain in your chest? Here, try this lip scrub. Can't stop your mind from racing uncontrollably? Here’s a funky breathing exercise! We've all tried popular means of self- care to pull us out of funks; I can admit I’ve tried just about every home remedy there is in hopes of decreasing my anxieties and depression. I’m not saying we should feel guilty about doing so, since that’s what these tips are there for—to feel better. However, if you feel compelled to try some self-care tricks because youre struggling with mental health concerns, I don’t think they’re going to erase or fix your underlying issues, despite how much you want them to. Death to al dente » It’s the worst way to cook pasta Jessica Berget Opinions Editor A: someone who eats an abundance of pasta and noodles, I don’t mind saying how much I hate the widely accepted standard of cooking noodles “al dente.” Hear me out, I know every pasta recipe out there says “cook till al dente,” but I’m telling you, this is the worst way to cook pasta. It’s a terrible standard for noodle cookery and we should stop adhering to it. “Al dente” in Italian means “to the tooth.” In other words, it should be firm to the bite. However, I can’t imagine anything more unappetizing than biting into a hard, firm noodle. In my opinion, noodles While I do believe that it is important to practice self-care regularly, I think it should be supplementary to scheduled, professional mental health check-ins. Self- care should be something that we use to help us unwind from the stresses of day-to- day life, not as a means of overcoming our mental health concerns all on our own. The popularization of DIY remedies has made it seem like you can do anything yourself. While you absolutely can address mental illness and stop it from overtaking your life, it’s okay to need and seek help to make those first steps in recovery. I just don't believe that help can come from a coconut oil hair mask with patchouli. Besides, seeking professional help and seeing a doctor to figure yourself out is self-care—it just doesn’t seem as exciting without all the fun, crafty elements to it. The Mental Health Commission of Canada’s 2017-2018 Annual Report revealed that two-thirds of young people across Canada will not seek help for their mental illness—even though for 70 percent of those afflicted, the symptoms started as early as adolescence. This statistic is what really bothers me; young people often don’t reach out to get the help they need. Despite movements like #BellLetsTalk should be soft and chewy. That way, they can absorb more of the flavour of the sauce and it also gives the pasta a nice, soft texture that is easier (and more enjoyable) to eat. Al dente, to me, means it isn’t fully cooked, and I don’t like to eat undercooked food, especially pasta. The thought is so unpleasant that it’s enough to make me never eat pasta again (almost). Many chefs or food blogs will say that youre supposed to cook pasta until it’s cooked almost all the way through because it will keep cooking after it’s off the heat. However, in my experience this has never been the case. In the past, when I’ve cooked my noodles al dente and kept them ona that encourage people to share their struggles and experiences, there’s still a lot of stigma surrounding mental illness. I know that for myself} it caused me to turn inwards and try anything I could to fix the way I was feeling at home. While a lot of people practice self-care just to feel good and give themselves a little boost in the middle of a busy week, there are plenty who turn to it desperately in place of crucial help. I get that it’s incredibly daunting to even have to think about therapy, doctors, and everything that comes with finding proper care and support, but there are plenty of resources out there to help you. Find out where the mental health service centre in your city is—you can self-refer heat source, even after serving they have still been too firm for my taste. Call me crazy, but I’ve made the decision to start cooking my noodles until they're soft and almost soggy, and I haven't looked back since. Some would call that overcooked; I call it dinner. I know everyone has their own standard when it comes to cooking noodles, but al dente really should not be the universal guideline. It may be a widely accepted principle for noodle-cooking, but you don't have to follow it just because everyone else says to do it this way. Try cooking your pasta until it’s soft or fully cooked for a change and experience your true noodle potential. a opinions // no. 15 Photo via Pixabay if you don't have a family doctor. Go toa counsellor on campus to help you figure out a plan, or even buy yourself a cognitive behavioural therapy workbook to fill in on your own. While face masks, essential oils, and candles are great to help you relax, they aren't going to stop you from feeling these feelings again. We can’t rely on DIY fixes to chase away mental illnesses if we aren't treating them properly. Hoping that a bubble bath will get rid of the nagging sense of dread inside of your chest is like putting a tiny bandage on a cut that needs stitches. It might help you forget for a moment, but that pain isn’t going anywhere until you face it head-on and seek help. : 4 F F f i Photo by Billy Bui h Don't hate on Valentine's Day too much » Let people celebrate it if they want to Jessica Berget Opinions Editor A lot of people love to hate on Valentine’s ay. Yes, you could say it’s a fake, expensive, capitalist holiday promoted only to make money. You can argue that it’s superfluous because you should be showing love and affection to your significant other every other day of the year. We hear all of this anti-Valentine rhetoric every time February rolls around, and I don't disagree with it. However, we shouldn't disparage this holiday too much. Some people genuinely enjoy celebrating this “Hallmark holiday’—and if they want to engage with their partners on a day dedicated to love and hearts, let them enjoy it and don't demean them for it. Ifyou ask me, there are actually a lot of reasons to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s an excuse to stay in or go out with your loved one, give each other gifts, make a fancy dinner, get drunk, or even just spend some time together. Or, if you don’t have a partner to celebrate it with, who cares? You can have a great time on your own by treating yourself. Get a nice dinner, have a luxurious bath with a face mask, or masturbate for two hours and then eat a pizza—doesn't that sound romantic? Alternately, you could celebrate it the day after by buying 50-percent- off Valentine's Day chocolates. There’s nothing bad about having a day committed to love and romance whether you have a partner or not, so there shouldn’t be so much hatred for a day dedicated to love. Honestly, it’s a cute, harmless holiday. Remember how fun it was in elementary school to give and receive Valentine's Day cards and candies from all of your classmates? I get the reservations about forced romance and how expensive it might be for some people, but it’s not so bad having a day where everything is either pink, red, or covered in hearts and filled with candy. You probably don’t even really hate this holiday, just the stereotypical depictions of love. Roses, chocolates, and wine can come off as quite cheesy to me, but there are other ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day without all the bells and whistles. I think it’s great to just have a day where you can spend time with people you love, even if it’s just for yourself. It’s okay to hate the holiday but if you come down on it too hard, it ruins the fun for other people—and even for yourself because you won't allow yourself to have fun. You don’t have to demean a holiday that many people enjoy just because you don't personally care for it. Whether you think there’s reason to celebrate it or not, it’s a day that comes every year, so you might as well find a reason to enjoy it.