Taking an ‘invisible day’ to help improve your mental health
WESH TWO NEWS CONTINUES TO PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS. AND KEEP IN MIND WE DO THAT HERE IN MAY, AND WE KNOW THAT FEELING OF BEING OVERWHELMED. YOU’VE PROBABLY EXPERIENCED IT AND YOU WISH YOU MIGHT JUST DISAPPEAR FOR A LITTLE BIT. WELL, THERE IS A NEW TREND AND THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE. IT’S CALLED AN INVISIBLE DAY. JOINING ME LIVE RIGHT HERE IN THE STUDIO THIS MORNING IS LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR CHANTEL ABBAS. GREAT TO SEE YOU CHANTEL. YOU TOO. JASON. WE ALL NEED A LITTLE CHECK IN ON OUR MENTAL HEALTH FROM TIME TO TIME. AND SOMETIMES YES, SOMETIMES MORE THAN EVER. AND SO THE FOCUS AND THE PRIORITY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS THIS MONTH OF MAY. WHAT IS THIS WHOLE CONCEPT OF AN INVISIBLE DAY? WELL, IT’S KIND OF A DRAMATIC WAY OF REPHRASING IT, BUT I THINK IT GETS OUR ATTENTION. YEAH. AND YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY IS MOVING FASTER THAN OUR BRAINS CAN KEEP UP. WE HAVE MORE INFORMATION AT OUR FINGERTIPS THAN WE EVER HAD BEFORE. AND SO I THINK SOMETIMES WE FORGET HOW THAT COULD ACTUALLY AFFECT US EMOTIONALLY. YOU KNOW, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT MINDFULNESS AND BEING IN THE MOMENT. BUT WHEN YOU HAVE 20 SCREENS IN FRONT OF YOU IN DIFFERENT MONITORS, YOUR PHONE’S GOING OFF. EVEN WHEN WE GO OUT TO DINNER. THIS IS HAPPENING. SO WE’RE IN A CONSTANT STATE OF ON TO THE NEXT THING, FIGHT OR FLIGHT. SO INVISIBLE DAY IS A WAY TO DISCONNECT. YEAH. AND SOME WAY TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM ALL THAT STIMULATION AND FOCUS ON JUST BEING HUMAN BREATHING NATURE. YEAH. TRYING TO RECONNECT WITH YOURSELF. OKAY, CHANTEL. QUICKLY. LET’S JUST GIVE SOME SOME COME A COUPLE OF THE IDEAS. WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING THAT. WHAT HAVE THEY COME UP WITH FOR THIS INVISIBLE DAY THAT MAYBE PUT THE PHONE AWAY? STAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA. WHAT DO YOU SEE? WELL, THERE’S SO MANY THINGS YOU CAN DO AND IT CAN BE SO SIMPLE. IT CAN BE TURNING OFF YOUR PHONE OR MAYBE STOPPING TURNING OFF ALERTS, SILENCING ALERTS. YOU KNOW, EVERYONE’S DIFFERENT AND WE HAVE DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES. IT CAN BE AT THE DINNER TABLE MAKING SURE EVERYONE PUTS THEIR PHONE OR DEVICES DOWN AND HAVING 30 MINUTES TO TALK ABOUT THE DAY CAN BE THAT SIMPLE. IF IT CAN’T BE A WHOLE DAY, BUT JUST LETTING EVERYONE KNOW IN YOUR LIFE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU’RE GOING TO DISCONNECT, YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE THIS TIME AND KIND OF JUST SO YOU’RE NOT ALWAYS JUST CHECKING EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME, TRYING TO RESPOND. IT REALLY DOES CREATE A VERY HEIGHTENED SENSE OF ANXIETY. YEAH. SO HAVING A LITTLE BIT OF DISTANCE, TAKING IT FOR A TIME CAN BE BENEFICIAL. HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE’RE MAYBE IN NEED OF A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK FROM ALL THE SCREENS AND EVERYTHING PULLING AT US? WELL, IF WE’RE EXPERIENCING BURNOUT, IF WE’RE HAVING PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS, STOMACH ACHES, HEADACHES, LACK OF SLEEP, NOT EATING VERY WELL. IF WE’RE HAVING MENTAL LIKE BRAIN FOG, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO FOCUS. YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN’T GET A TASK DONE OR THAT IT’S REALLY HARD TO GET A TASK DONE. AND THEN BEHAVIORALLY, IF IT’S AFFECTING RELATIONSHIPS OR WE’RE SHORTER WITH OUR, OUR FRIENDS OR OUR SPOUSE OR THE PEOPLE IN OUR LIFE. AND WE, WE DON’T HAVE THE SAME AS WELL WITH OTHER PEOPLE. THEN IT’S TIME TO STEP BACK AND TAKE SOME TIME OUT FOR OURSELVES AND REALLY SEE HOW WE CAN, HOW WE CAN REFOCUS AND RESET. JUST LIKE A COMPUTER NEEDS TO REBOOT. SO DO WE NEED OUR BRAIN? RIGHT? YEAH. AND WE DON’T GET ENOUGH OF THAT JUST AT NIGHT, TAKING A, YOU KNOW, A GOOD NIGHT OF SLEEP. BUT IF WE CAN’T DO THE FULL DAY, WE’RE AT THE OFFICE. WE HAVE TO BE CONNECTED. HOW DO WE DO MAYBE A SHORTENED VERSION OF THIS OVER THE WEEKEND OR OVER A LITTLE SMALL STRETCH? WELL, EVEN IF IT’S ON OUR LUNCH BREAK, GOING OUT FOR A WALK AROUND THE BUILDING OR, YOU KNOW, LISTENING TO SOME MUSIC IN YOUR EAR PODS, YOU KNOW, THAT CAN KIND OF HELP YOU DISCONNECT A LITTLE BIT. AT LEAST TRY TO LIMIT ONE OF THE SENSES. YOU KNOW, IF IT’S, IF IT’S NOT SIGHT. MAYBE IT’S YOUR HEARING OR MAYBE IT’S KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF A SMELL. HAVING A CANDLE, SOMETHING TO KIND OF KEEP YOU IN THE MOMENT AND REMOVE YOU FROM SO MANY DISTRACTIONS. SOMETIMES WE HAVE THE DISTRACTIONS AND WE DON’T NEED THEM. WE’RE NOT AT WORK. WE’RE AT A WE’RE OUT AND WE’RE LOOKING AT SCREENS ANYWAY, RIGHT? EVERYONE’S LOOKING AT THEIR PHONE, AT THE DINNER TABLE. SO WE CAN DISCONNECT. WE CAN DO IT. OKAY. WE CAN DO THIS. YEAH. AND THERE IS A FLIP SIDE OF THIS. AND WE WANT TO HIT ON THIS VERY QUICKLY. THERE’S THE OPPOSITE OF THIS, WHERE WE DISCONNECT TOO MUCH AND WE REALLY GET INTO A PLACE OF ISOLATION. AND YOU WANT TO CAUTION AGAINST THAT. WELL ABSOLUTELY. AND EVERYBODY’S DIFFERENT. SOME PEOPLE ARE MORE EXTROVERTED OR INTROVERTED, BUT IF WE NOTICE THAT WE ARE DISCONNECTING MORE THAN NORMAL OR NO MORE THAN OUR SOCIAL, YOU KNOW, BATTERY IS, THEN MAYBE WE NEED TO SEEK OUT HELP. YOU KNOW, WE DON’T WANT TO COMPLETELY DISCONNECT FROM SOCIETY. YOU CAN ACTUALLY HAVE AN INVISIBLE DAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS. I HAVE A CLIENT THAT WENT OUT ON THE BOAT WITH HIS FRIENDS. HE TOOK ONE PHONE. THEY PUT IT THEY PUT IT AWAY FOR SAFETY, JUST FOR SAFETY. BUT THEY JUST HAD THE BEST DAY. AND I WAS LIKE, THAT’S PERFECT. YEAH. SO IT DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING. YOU’RE JUST DISCONNECTING FROM SOME OF THE DEVICES AND THE THINGS THAT PULL YOU OUTSIDE. CHANTAL. IF PEOPLE ARE LOOKING TO CONNECT WITH YOU, HOW DO WE REACH OUT? MY WEBSITE IS VOS WELLNESS LLC. SO THAT’S THE BES
Taking an ‘invisible day’ to help improve your mental health
Updated: 9:44 AM EDT May 15, 2026
When stress piles up, you may consider taking a day to go off the grid. Taking an ‘invisible day’ involves silencing the noise of digital and social stimulation and giving yourself uninterrupted time to breathe, unwind and relax.Licensed mental health counselor Shantala Boss discusses how to identify when you need a break and what that can look like. You can connect with Shantala here.
When stress piles up, you may consider taking a day to go off the grid. Taking an ‘invisible day’ involves silencing the noise of digital and social stimulation and giving yourself uninterrupted time to breathe, unwind and relax.
Licensed mental health counselor Shantala Boss discusses how to identify when you need a break and what that can look like.
You can connect with Shantala here.