You Cannot Heal In The Same Environment Where You Got Sick: Protecting Your Mental Health
“You cannot heal in the same environment where you got sick.” I recently came across this quote, and I felt it in my soul. It resonated with me for two main reasons: I have first-hand accounts of trying to heal in the same environment I got sick, and I have also been outside looking in situations where people were trying to heal in the same environment where they got sick.
Side story. Recently I went to urgent care. For those who don’t know, urgent care facilities are the step between going to a doctor and going to a hospital emergency room. This particular urgent care had an area for sick people, separate from the area designated for people who didn’t deem themselves sick. Because we are in flu season, when you first walk into this urgent care, you have the luxury of a face mask to protect you from viral infections (I believe that’s what it’s for — science isn’t a strong point). In the area with the masks, you also have the choice of hand sanitizer and latex gloves. That’s a lot of protection for flu and common colds.
If only we protected our mental like we do our physical (and immune systems). In theory, the urgent care was trying to ensure the contagious do not contaminate the “unsick.” All interesting things to unpack! How often do we detour ourselves of toxic environments PRIOR to them (environments) “infecting” us? Often we lie to ourselves like we made a conscious effort to stand clear of all toxicity; meanwhile, we have all found ourselves in toxic situations. And once we let a toxic environment drain us, we are often stuck trying to heal ourselves in that same environment because we trick ourselves into believing we are too deep in the situation to leave.
Environment. What is an environment? For this blog’s purpose, an environment is your space (physical or mental). Your environment is what surrounds you. That could be people, situations, relationships, home-life, work-life, etc. Your surroundings often set the tone for your days. An example of this logic; if you absolutely hate your job, it is unlikely you will be in a positive headspace the days you work. Just the simple task of physically entering your office will likely lower your vibration and trigger your toxic behaviors. And because each workday you continually may enter a dark space, distaste for the job will grow. That’s pretty simple to understand; enter a tainted place repeatedly and you’ll eventually exit tainted. A toxic environment is a breeding ground for toxic thoughts. Similarly, a waiting room of sick people is likely a breeding ground for sickness.
Sick. When the word sick was used in our opening quote, I do not believe they were referencing the mentally ill. I believe sick was used to reference clouded vision, stress, exhaustion, and other mental burdens. Toxic environments exhaust the brain. When the mind is exhausted, it’s hard to get anything done. This, I know all too well.
Obviously, the job example trivializes the topic; however, I am sure everyone has something similar they can replace as a toxic environment instead of a job. I would think the key to healing in these situations is first to remove yourself from your environment since it is that toxic environment where you got “sick.” This step sounds more simple than it is. To know where one got sick, you have to evaluate where things went wrong. Self-evaluations are always hard but instrumental to personal growth. As I maneuver through adulthood, I find self-evaluations are not as common as one would think. Let’s be honest; no one wants to hear, they attributed to or put themselves in a toxic environment (regardless if it was subconsciously or knowingly).
I’ve found that removing myself from toxic situations and relationships directly correlates with my increased levels of happiness. The more positive my atmosphere, the more positive my thoughts become. The more positive my thoughts, the easier my days, and the more creative I tend to be. And once I am in a creative headspace, I’m pretty unstoppable!
