‘Drink a Nap. Take Water.’ and Other Self-Care Advice A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on Self-Care Posts on Instagram

In recent years, self-care has become a qualification for many social work organizations. At the same time, mental distress has been receiving significant attention. Through this period, government policies have decreased funding to social services while increasing surveillance. As well, social media has increasingly become a source of governmentality as a useful tool for perpetuating dominant narratives, surveilling each other and the self. The purpose of this study is to explore these connections through a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on self-care posts from Instagram. My analysis uses post-structural literature on mad studies, neoliberalism, whiteness, and feminism. A major theme of my analysis regards evidence of reification of the neoliberal state as self-care becomes the qualification for worker-citizen-subjects. The implications of self-care discourses for people struggling with mental distress are that those experiencing it are blamed for their individual choices. The paper concludes by exploring subjugated discourses, relevance for social work and suggestions for future research.