This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is Stress: are we coping?
Feeling stressed, anxious or worried is something we can all relate to. But what do you do when that stress escalates to become more frequent, overwhelming and unbearable?
This week, the Mental Health Foundation are drawing attention to the difference between mild stress that we might experience on a daily basis and serious, long-term stress that can cause us real distress. Research has shown that two thirds of us experience a mental health problem in our lifetimes, and stress is a key factor in this, so it’s important to know what steps you can take when you start to feel overwhelmed. Here are some tips from the Mental Health Foundation on how to cope with stress:
1. Realise when it is causing you a problem
- Try to make the connection between feeling tired or ill and the pressures you are faced with
- Look out for physical warnings such as tense muscles, over-tiredness, headaches or migraines
2. Identify the causes
- Try to identify the underlying causes
- Sort the possible reasons for your stress into three categories 1) those with a practical solution 2) those that will get better given time and 3) those you can’t do anything about
- Try to release the worry of those in the second and third groups and let them go
3. Review your lifestyle
- Could you be taking on too much?
- Are there things you are doing which could be handed over to someone else?
- Can you do things in a more leisurely way?
- To act on the answer to these questions, you may need to prioritise things you are trying to achieve and re-organise your life. This will help to release pressure that can come from trying to do everything at once
About Team JUMP
Our JUMP workplace engagement programmes work to improve mental health and wellbeing for employees. Through rewards, incentives and gamification we encourage employees to take part in a range of activities to benefit their wellbeing at work and at home.
To find out more or request a case study send an email to [email protected]BACK
