Psychic intuition
Not everyone’s mind immediately jumps to this activity when they think of self-care, but lots of people, whether they believe in them or not, will admit to occasionally checking their horoscope or reading about their star sign. In a similar way, visiting a fortune teller could be a fun, informal way of thinking about or planning for the future, whether or not you believe in its credibility. In fact, because this activity is less rooted in facts and more in intuition and speculation, it might feel like a release from the practicalities and responsibilities of day-to-day life.
Some people use the phrase ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ to describe how receiving information such as ‘you will go on an adventure’, whether or not this is strictly true, can actually leave you feeling more adventurous in spirit, and more likely to make it happen yourself. In this way, going alone or with a friend to a tarot reading or fortune teller might provoke interesting discussions and opportunities to think about yourself and your life in a more creative setting.
It is important to remember, however, that a ‘bad reading’ is not something you’d need to worry about or take seriously. The purpose of the visit is for entertainment, not for facts or information, so if the experience makes you feel uncomfortable or worried that something bad might happen, remember that you are in control of your own destiny.
There isn’t much academic research in the area of self-care for young people who are living with mental health issues. We are trying to find out more about what works for different people so we can better advise other young people what to try.
If you’ve tried this activity when you were struggling in relation to your mental health, please let us know if it helped you and how by clicking on the ‘Did this activity help you’ button.