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, find out how to identify what is in your stress container. This includes tools to help identify stress, warning signs when you are stressed, your tipping point, and resilience levels.
Week 2 – How can the stress container analogy help?
We all experience stress, some stress can be helpful but too much stress can interfere with our lives. The stress container analogy can help us understand what stress is to us, what our stress signatures are and to help us recognise what helpful coping strategies work for us.
- Launch Stress Container Animation: https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/resources/address-your-stress/stress-container-resource-download.pdf
- MHFA England Video: What’s in your stress container? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bapSzuyeQ_Y
Key takeaways:
- Everyone’s stress container is a different size
- There are many sources of stress. What is stressful to one individual may not be for others and vice versa
- Stress flows into your container and can build up. When your stress container overflows, this causes a ‘stress signature’
- Your stress signature might be becoming tearful, consuming more alcohol or spending more money shopping – everyone’s stress signature is different
- Helpful coping strategies act as a tap that help to release the stress that is in your container – this could include meditation, taking time for exercise and hobbies or talking to a friend
- By making time for helpful coping strategies, we increase the flow of stress leaving the container. The helpful coping strategies help to reduce the chances of the container overflowing and causing our stress signatures
- Unhelpful coping strategies, such as drinking excessive alcohol, can block the taps and cause the stress container to fill up more quickly
Weekly wellbeing check-up….
Here are some questions to ask yourself when you are reflecting on your own stress levels:
- How full is my container?
- Am I using helpful coping strategies?
- Are they working? What else could I do? Can anyone help?
Resources
- Vitae Hangout for Researchers: Coping with stress and anxiety – health and well-being for researchers. A collection of online Q&As for researchers organised by Vitae
- Decision Trees Developed by the University of Manchester and Vitae as an output from their Catalyst Funded project, the decision trees provide practical advice, resources and supportive wellbeing interventions for both postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and their supervisors at the University of Manchester.
Also available…
Coming up this month….
All blog posts will be available through the PGR Mental Health & Wellbeing Blog
Week 3 – Managing your stress
Week 4 – Get involved and relax