Stress: are we coping? Mental Health Awareness week (Mental Health Foundation) 14th-20th May 2018 Stress is when we feel excessive pressure or demand is placed on us. It can manifest itself in many ways; physical, mental, emotional or behavioural. The table below shows the ways in which stress can impact on these areas of our lives; PHYSICAL MENTAL headaches skin rashes indecision impaired judgement indigestion susceptibility to allergies memory failing hasty decisions palpitations breathlessness loss of concentration less sensitive nausea sweating tunnel vision less intuitive muscle twitches clenched fists/jaw bad dreams/nightmares worrying tiredness fainting muddled thinking aches and pains frequent colds/flu constipation/diarrhoea rapid weight gain/loss EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOURAL irritable demotivated unsocial anti-social behaviour more suspicious reduced self-esteem restless unable to unwind gloomy job dissatisfaction loss of appetite/overeating voice tremor fussy loss of confidence loss of libido bad driving tense disturbed sleep impaired speech drained/no enthusiasm increased alcohol lying cynical poor time management smoking more nervous/apprehensive taking work home more Whilst stress isn’t a medical condition, it can lead to anxiety and depression, so addressing it is vital. Prolonged periods of stress can cause mental health problems as well as physical ill health issues; the release of particular hormones associated with the ‘fight or flight’ response- adrenaline and noradrenaline raise blood pressure and increase heart rate. Self-help suggestions from the ; Realise when stress is causing a problem – frequent, often short-term things like colds, viruses, migraine etc may be linked to increased stress Identify the causes/triggers – try to identify the causes and tackle the issues that you can control with practical solutions first, this should then ease some of the burden and enable you to tackle some of the other stressors Review your lifestyle and work-life balance – do you take on too much? Can’t seem to say no? aim to prioritise all of the things that you have to do at work and home. Try to create a corridor between work and home; do something the opposite of what you have done during the day. Research shows that we relax the most when we rest the systems we use at work – for example, those that teach may benefit from some quiet time, or doing something physical rather than mental.
Stress: are we coping? Mental Health Awareness week (Mental Health Foundation) 14th-20th May 2018 Stress is when we feel excessive pressure or demand is placed on us. It can manifest itself in many ways; physical, mental, emotional or behavioural. The table below shows the ways in which stress can impact on these areas of our lives; PHYSICAL headaches skin rashes indigestion susceptibility to allergies palpitations breathlessness nausea sweating muscle twitches clenched fists/jaw tiredness fainting aches and pains frequent colds/flu constipation/diarrhoea rapid weight gain/loss MENTAL indecision impaired judgement memory failing hasty decisions loss of concentration less sensitive tunnel vision less intuitive bad dreams/nightmares worrying muddled thinking EMOTIONAL irritable demotivated more suspicious reduced self-esteem gloomy job dissatisfaction fussy loss of confidence tense drained/no enthusiasm cynical nervous/apprehensive BEHAVIOURAL unsocial anti-social behaviour restless unable to unwind loss of appetite/overeating voice tremor loss of libido bad driving disturbed sleep impaired speech increased alcohol lying poor time management smoking more taking work home more Whilst stress isn’t a medical condition, it can lead to anxiety and depression, so addressing it is vital. Prolonged periods of stress can cause mental health problems as well as physical ill health issues; the release of particular hormones associated with the ‘fight or flight’ response- adrenaline and noradrenaline raise blood pressure and increase heart rate. Self-help suggestions from the ; Realise when stress is causing a problem – frequent, often short-term things like colds, viruses, migraine etc may be linked to increased stress Identify the causes/triggers – try to identify the causes and tackle the issues that you can control with practical solutions first, this should then ease some of the burden and enable you to tackle some of the other stressors Review your lifestyle and work-life balance – do you take on too much? Can’t seem to say no? aim to prioritise all of the things that you have to do at work and home. Try to create a corridor between work and home; do something the opposite of what you have done during the day. Research shows that we relax the most when we rest the systems we use at work – for example, those that teach may benefit from some quiet time, or doing something physical rather than mental.
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