International Stress Awareness Week
2024 is the 50th anniversary of International Stress Awareness Week which is held annually during the first week of November. The aim of the Week is to raise global awareness of stress, and improve its management in the workplace and in our personal lives.
Let’s face it, stress is unavoidable. It comes from the small things in life, such as running late, or forgetting things, to significant stressors such as major family illness or traumatic events. One recent study reported that over 80% felt stressed at work.
Stress is our bodies natural response to pressure. It is usually triggered when we experience something new, or unexpected, or when we feel we have little control over a situation. Stress comes from external events happening to us, and from our own internal thinking. The scholar Epictetus famously quoted:
“People are disturbed not by things themselves, but by the views they take of them.”
Most of us want to perform well, we want to do what we say we will do, to be reliable, to be accurate, to make others happy – but when situations get in the way to disrupt this (for example: too much work, letting people down, making mistakes, being rejected from a job), we feel disappointed and anxious about ourselves and our performance. This internal stress is debilitating and harmful as its often invisible and hidden from others.
Only the individual knows how distressing it is. The aim of stress awareness week is to help people recognise when stress is affecting them, and to be able to act quickly, using a whole variety of techniques, to ensure that the stress they are experiencing helps them to react appropriately and safely, rather than causing harm.
A-Z of Stress Management
A Acute Stress. Short term stress that arises from specific incidents or situations. Some people will tell you that ‘a bit of stress is good for you’. This is true, as the immediate stress response releases a number of chemicals into the body system, including adrenalin. Adrenalin response gives us a surge of energy that can be exciting and motivating and helps us reach a deadline, (and enjoy a fairground ride!)
B Burnout is a dangerous consequence of long-term stress, characterised by severe exhaustion, cynicism (not caring about how we treat others and not believing anything will change for the better) and depression. People who experience burnout struggle to ask for help, therefore if we notice family and friends with this combination of symptoms, we need to encourage them to reach out for professional help, either through their in-house health professionals, PMI, or NHS.
C Causes of stress at work. HSE have identified 6 causes of workplace stress that are universal and likely to cause a debilitating response, these include: high workload, lack of control over our work demands and routine, conflict with line-manager, unsupportive relationships with peers, multiple changes, and lack of clarity about our role, its purpose and expectations. If you are experiencing any or all of these, reach out for support.
D Daily exercise is essential to maintain healthy stress levels. Moving our body through any activity (walking, running, stretching, dancing, gym work, wrestling, karate), helps to release the stored stress hormones that build up during the day.
E Eating a healthy diet supports a healthy immune system and repairs damaged cells. It provides the extra energy needed to cope with stressful experiences. Healthy fats (salmon, sardines, herring, avocados, nuts), and vegetables can also help to regulate stress hormones.
F Flight, fight, freeze or fawn are all natural responses to being under threat. The fight response instinctively energises us to act assertively, aggressively or be irritable with the people causing us stress. The flight response energises us to run away from danger, withdraw or become silent. The freeze response temporarily stops us in our tracks, paralyses us so we are unable to move or make ourselves noticeable. The fawn response is our ‘people pleasing’ response, whereby we agree and go along with an aggressive frightening person in order to keep safe and protect ourselves. All these innate responses can be helpful at certain times, but it’s worth reflecting on your natural response to assess how appropriate it is, given the circumstances.
G Gain perspective, take a step back, ask yourself how important the issues is, and is there a more useful response other than an immediate stress response. Ask yourself ‘what is the best thing I can do in this situation now to help everyone – not just myself’. The immediate stress response leans us towards personal survival, which is the opposite of gaining perspective.
H Home life can become stressful too. The most common causes of stress outside the workplace include money worries, relationship breakdown, bereavement, illness, caring responsibilities. Parents of toddlers and teenagers often feel that they are under constant stress. But home life can be a source of great joy, relaxation and love – all of which are essential for stress management. Review your routine and approach and assess whether you can increase your fun, love and laughter at home.
I Identify your own triggers for stress – are there people, places or situations that cause a stress response just by thinking about them? It may be helpful to talk to a professional about these stress triggers to gain perspective and learn some calm grounding techniques.
J Judge your own performance realistically, usually when we judge ourselves harshly our stress response increases. If we are perfectionists, we sometimes dismiss our performance as ‘rubbish’ or ‘not good enough’ but adopting a more realistic attitude to our performance, and focusing on the things we have achieved, can help us feel proud and increase our self-esteem.
K Keep a positive attitude. Smile more, be kind, show interest in others. Keep a journal of positive experiences that have happened, which you can reflect on when you feel down.
L Limit alcohol, drug and other stimulants, they affect your perception and behaviour. They provide quick fixes that might help in the short term, but not in the long term
M Mindfulness and meditation enable you to pay attention, with purpose, to the present moment. Having the discipline to stay focused in the present moment helps to avoid becoming overwhelmed, judgemental or reactive when confronted by stressful situations.
N Neurodiverse conditions need care and understanding. Everyone has their own signs and symptoms of stress, and their own way of responding. Many conditions and disabilities are invisible, and its essential not to judge or assume that everyone responds to stress in the same way. Be curious, interested and open-minded about what causes stress in others and how you can help.
O Oxytocin is helpful during stress. The hormone is released during stressful periods and has been labelled as the ‘tend and befriend’ response as opposed to the ‘flight or fight’ response. Oxytocin is commonly known as ‘the bonding hormone’ encouraging people to seek out the help others during times of stress.
P Play more music, more games, more sport. Have something fun to look forward to everyday. Remind yourself of the things that make you laugh until the tears run down your face. Laughing stimulates circulation and helps muscles to relax, both of which can help reduce some physical symptoms of stress.
Q Qigong is an ancient Chinese health practice combining gentle, fluid stretching movements with mental concentration and breathing. People who regularly participate in qigong sessions report better sleep and psychological wellbeing once they started qigong.
R Relationship with line-manager. An uncommunicative, unsupportive and absent line-manager, without any training on stress management or mental health will cause high stress levels in employees. Line-managers have a huge influence on the overall mental health of their employees, as they are ultimately in control of important workplace factors, such as workload, salary, bonus, appraisal and the credibility of the employee within the organisation. Many line-managers lack the knowledge, self-awareness and behavioural skills to be good line-managers and support the health, wellbeing and work-life balance of their employees. If you are a line-manager, ensure you have an interest in helping your team manage their stress and explore positive communication styles to demonstrate support and empathy.
S Sleep disruption is a common sign of stress. Every person has their own list of stress symptoms, but this will usually include irritability, anxiety, low mood, poor concentration and poor sleep. There are likely to be physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems, itchy skin, throat infections, chest, neck or back pain and fatigue. We might think that a good night’s sleep will help with all of these signs and symptoms – and of course it will, if only we could sleep.
Stress nearly always interrupts our sleep. The stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin elevate the energy in our nervous system causing us to be hyper-alert to threat and danger. Whilst this might be helpful at certain times during the day enabling us to respond quickly, sometimes this response continues throughout the evening and night – feeling wired but tired. We have all had those nights where we lie in bed trying to sleep, with racing thoughts and continuous loops of catastrophic ideas creating a hyper anxious state at 3am.
By lowering our stress levels in the evening, before we attempt to sleep, we can influence our levels of arousal and hence improve the duration and quality of sleep. Sleep hygiene refers to both your sleep environment and your behaviour around sleep. Good sleep hygiene includes keeping your bedroom dark, cool (17-19 degrees) and silent, dimming your lamps before bedtime, turning off screens for at least an hour before you want to sleep, taking your phone out of your bedroom and using an alarm clock to wake up. Sleep needs to be prioritised as an essential part of your physical and mental health routine.
T Talking therapy is one of the best solutions for managing stress. An independent counsellor, therapist or psychologist can help you identify your thinking patterns that contribute to stress, and help you find strategies to begin to think differently. You won’t be judged or labelled, and you will have space to talk confidentially about feelings and opinions that are causing you distress. It may take a few attempts to find the right person for you, but it is worth the effort to begin to feel calmer and more confident about managing difficult situations.
U Unwind. Stress can sometimes feel like a coiled spring, or like a fizzy drink bottle that’s been shaken too much. As soon as the lid is released, everything overflows. Taking time to unwind our thoughts and feelings can help us gain perspective and feel calm. Unwinding can be done through sports, gardening, being in the gym, dancing, singing, meditation, having a bath, a shower, a sauna, in fact any activity that immerses the whole self. This enables our busy stressed brain, to go ‘off-line’ and recover. Daily unwinding helps us sleep better and be more present with ourselves and our loved ones.
V Verify information before exploding or panicking. When we feel stressed, our brain begins to imagine everything that happens to us is dangerous and frightening. The threat response is on overdrive causing an overreaction. If you are constantly overreacting, take a step-back, breathe deeply, check your environment, and verify the real threats in your environment, rather than the responding to the imagined threats.
W Water sports and cold-water swimming really do help to lower stress hormones by boosting the immune system and increase endorphins and serotonin.
X seX drive is affected during stressful periods. Stress can cause your sex drive to spike, or it may cause your sex drive to dip. Sex can provide a helpful distraction to stress, it can help you unwind, increase feelings of intimacy and security and therefore be part of healthy stress management. However, the high cortisol levels in chronic stress inhibits testosterone, which is responsible for the sex drive (libido). If this is the case for you, seek support for your stress with talking therapy and mindfulness.
Y Yoga is for everybody, improves balance, stability and psychological calmness
Z Zest for life. Each day is a gift. Think of 3 things to be grateful for every day.
Image provided by Mandy Rutter
