Stress Awareness Month
April is Stress Awareness Month. We be sharing a series of resources throughout the month to help you identify stress and your own stress triggers. This week, we kick off by looking at what stress is and how you can get engage with stress awareness month.
Week 1 – What is stress?
When we are feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope with mental or emotional pressure, stress is our body’s response to pressure. Many different situations or life events can cause stress. It can be triggered when we experience:
- something new or unexpected
- we feel a threat to our sense of self
- lack of control over a situation
In the UK, 74% of adults in a Mental Health Foundation survey said they were feeling so stressed that they were becoming overwhelmed and felt unable to cope. The impact that the Covid-19 outbreak is having on our lives may also cause us to feel stressed as well as worried, sad, bored and frustrated. A research study suggests that 65% of people in the UK have felt more stressed since the pandemic began in March 2020.
The charity Mind has a variety of information on their website including:
- what is stress?
- signs of stress
- dealing with pressure
- developing resilience
- treatment for stress
- friends and family support
- other useful contacts
What else could you do for Stress Awareness Month?
- Talk about Stress and it’s effects – let’s work together to reduce the stigma that is associated with stress by talking about the topic openly and freely with friends, family and colleagues
- Share your coping mechanisms – if something has worked for you why not share it. It might benefit someone you care about and in the meantime it might help you take your focus off your own challenges
- Be nice to those who are stressed and anxious – we are all undoubtedly going to experience stress and anxiety in our lifetime so treat others going through wit with compassion and empathy
- Look after yourself – we all need to think more about self –care. Take time out of your day to relax or do something that you enjoy. Don’t forget to exercise and eat well, even when you feel too stressed.
The most crucial thing you can do when you are stressed or anxious is to make sure you are continuing to look after yourself. Make time to relax when you need to and learn to say no to requests that are too much for you.
Resources
You can also find more information on the following at:
- What is stress?
- The 30 Day Challenge Regaining Connectivity, Certainty and Control
- Dr Who? Let’s talk about…Stress PGR Webinar
- Stress | Mental Health Foundation
- MIND – Covid 19 and support
- NHS Covid 19 related support on stress
Coming up this month….
All blog posts will be available through the PGR Mental Health & Wellbeing Blog
Week 2 – Understanding your stress bucket
Week 3 – Managing your stress
Week 4 – Get involved and relax