Bayer Calls For a New Approach to Self-Care in an Increasingly Stressful World

For many people, self-care is still associated with a massage, a spa day or finally booking that haircut you've been putting off for weeks. While those things certainly have their place, they only scratch the surface of what self-care really means.

That was one of the biggest takeaways from Bayer's recent International Self-Care Day media roundtable, where healthcare professionals, media and industry representatives gathered to discuss why looking after ourselves has become more important than ever.

Held annually on 24 July, the date itself carries meaning. Written numerically as 24/7, it serves as a reminder that self-care is not something reserved for one day of the year. It is something we practise 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This year's discussion centred on the theme From Surviving to Thriving: Reimagining Self-Care for Modern South Africans, exploring how daily habits, informed healthcare decisions and small lifestyle changes can help people navigate an increasingly demanding world.

Opening the discussion, Kelly Widdop, Cluster Divisional Head for Sub-Saharan Africa at Bayer, highlighted just how much modern life is asking of people.

"South Africans are tired.

We are carrying demanding careers, family responsibilities, financial pressure, uncertainty and the constant noise of a world that rarely switches off — and somewhere along the way, our own health often falls to the bottom of the list.

That is why today's theme — From Surviving to Thriving: Reimagining Self-Care for Modern South Africans — feels so relevant. It challenges us to think differently about what it takes for people not only to cope, but to live with more energy, confidence and wellbeing.

That is where self-care becomes so important. It is not an indulgence; it is an essential part of how we build healthier lives and more resilient communities."

It is difficult to argue with that.

The pace of modern life has changed dramatically. Work no longer ends when you leave the office. Notifications continue long after business hours, financial pressures continue to mount, and the expectation to always be available has blurred the line between working and living.

Perhaps that is why self-care has become such a misunderstood concept. Somewhere along the way it became synonymous with treating yourself, when in reality it is far more practical than that. It is about consistently making decisions that allow you to function at your best, physically, mentally and emotionally.

And those decisions look different for everyone.

For one person, self-care might be reading a chapter of a book before bed instead of scrolling through social media. For another, it could be taking a walk after work, listening to their favourite music on the drive home or spending an hour playing football, padel or another sport outdoors. Even though exercise requires energy, it often gives back far more than it takes, making it one of the simplest forms of self-care available.

Why Self-Care Has Become More Important Than Ever

While self-care has always been important, the discussion also highlighted why it feels more relevant today than it did a decade ago.

We are living through a period of constant change. Rising living costs, economic uncertainty, rapid technological change and even climate change are affecting how people live, work and manage their health. On top of that, many people are juggling careers, family responsibilities and financial pressures, often leaving very little time to focus on themselves.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression and anxiety cost the global economy an estimated US$1 trillion in lost productivity every year, while around 12 billion working days are lost annually because of poor mental health. Those figures paint a sobering picture, but they also reinforce why conversations around preventative healthcare and everyday wellbeing are becoming increasingly important.

Dr Renissa Naidoo, Medical Lead for Consumer Health in Sub-Saharan Africa at Bayer, explained that while many of these external pressures are beyond our control, the daily choices we make are not.

"The world is changing faster than ever before. Whether it is the cost-of-living crisis, climate change, changing patterns of disease or uncertainty in the workplace, these factors can all affect our mental and physical wellbeing. While we cannot control many of these external pressures, we can control the daily decisions that help build resilience."

That idea of resilience came up repeatedly throughout the discussion.

Self-care is often spoken about as though it is a reaction to burnout, something people turn to once they have already reached breaking point. But the conversation suggested the opposite. Good self-care is preventative. It is about creating routines and habits that reduce the chances of reaching that point in the first place.

That could mean prioritising sleep, making time for exercise, eating a more balanced diet or simply finding moments throughout the day to disconnect and recharge before stress becomes overwhelming.

In many ways, the discussion challenged the idea that self-care is something extra we have to fit into already busy schedules. Instead, it presented it as something that should be woven into everyday life through small, consistent choices that gradually improve both physical and mental wellbeing.

Self-Care Also Starts With What We Put Into Our Bodies

The conversation also moved beyond mental wellbeing to something equally important: physical health.

It is easy to separate the two, but they are often closely linked. Poor nutrition can affect energy levels, concentration and even mood, while chronic stress can have knock-on effects throughout the body.

For Dr Naidoo, self-care is about building habits that support long-term health rather than looking for quick fixes.

"Self-care is often misunderstood as an occasional indulgence. In reality, it is about making consistent, evidence-based decisions that support both physical and mental health over time. The small choices we make every day have a cumulative impact on our long-term wellbeing."

Those daily choices extend to what we eat.

Research shared during the discussion showed that many South Africans are still not meeting recommended dietary guidelines, with factors such as rising food costs making balanced nutrition more difficult for many households. When good nutrition becomes harder to maintain, people may also become deficient in important vitamins and minerals that help support normal body function.

That is where supplements can play a role, but only as part of a broader approach to health.

With Berocca serving as the backdrop to the discussion, the conversation touched on how vitamins and supplements can help support areas such as energy, focus and general wellbeing. However, Dr Naidoo was careful to stress that supplements should never replace professional medical advice.

If persistent fatigue, poor sleep or a lack of concentration becomes a regular occurrence, the first step should always be understanding why.

A supplement may help address a deficiency, but it cannot diagnose an underlying health condition.

That distinction is important because self-care is not about self-diagnosis. It is about taking ownership of your health while also recognising when it is time to seek professional advice.

In other words, supplements should support a healthy lifestyle, not become a substitute for one.

Self-Care Is Also About Making Informed Choices

One point that stood out during the discussion was that self-care is not only about the decisions we make for our bodies, but also about the decisions we make as consumers.

As more healthcare products become available online, convenience has made it easier than ever to buy medicines, vitamins and supplements with just a few clicks. But that convenience also comes with risk.

According to the World Health Organization, more than one in ten medicines circulating in low- and middle-income countries are estimated to be substandard or falsified. Some may contain the wrong ingredients, incorrect dosages or, in some cases, no active ingredients at all.

For Dr Naidoo, this makes purchasing healthcare products from trusted and reputable sources an important part of self-care.

"When consumers purchase healthcare products from legitimate, trusted sources, they are helping ensure those products meet the appropriate quality standards and have been correctly stored, transported and dispensed. That confidence is an important part of effective self-care."

It is something many of us probably do not think about often.

When shopping online, it is easy to focus on convenience or a lower price, but when it comes to products that directly affect our health, knowing where they come from matters just as much as what is inside the box.

That broader idea ties back to one of the key messages from the roundtable: self-care is about making informed decisions. Whether it is choosing to exercise more regularly, improving your diet, seeking medical advice when symptoms persist or buying healthcare products from reputable providers, each decision contributes to your long-term wellbeing.

The aim is not perfection. It is building habits that, over time, place you in a stronger position physically, mentally and emotionally.

Self-Care Looks Different for Everyone

After the discussion wrapped up, we headed onto the padel courts.

On paper, it may have seemed like a networking activity. In reality, it perfectly reinforced everything we had just spent the morning talking about.

When most people hear the words "self-care", they picture a spa day, a massage, or perhaps getting their hair and nails done. Those things absolutely have their place, but self-care is much broader than that.

Sometimes self-care is reading a book after a long day at work. Sometimes it is switching off your notifications for an hour. Sometimes it is putting on your favourite playlist during the drive home. And sometimes it is getting outside, moving your body and playing a sport you enjoy.

For me, that afternoon on the padel court was self-care.

Being outdoors, meeting new people and playing a sport I genuinely enjoy is one of the ways I recharge. It reminded me that taking care of yourself does not always mean slowing down. Sometimes it means doing something that energises you.

That, perhaps, was my biggest takeaway from the event.

Self-care is not a destination or something reserved for one day on the calendar. It is the small decisions we make every day, whether that is choosing healthier meals, getting enough sleep, seeking medical advice when something feels wrong, spending time with people who recharge you, or simply carving out time to do something that makes you feel like yourself again.

International Self-Care Day may fall on 24 July, but the message behind it is in the date itself: 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And perhaps that is the simplest way to think about it. Self-care is not about escaping life every now and then. It is about building habits that help you live it a little better every single day.